


Episode 1: Defenders of the Galaxy

by MissIF



Series: A Voltron Trilogy [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Lance Keith Pidge and Hunk are trained as padawans by Shiro and Allura, Zarkon and the Galra are the main power driving the Separatists, this story follows the events of the Clone Wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2018-10-26 02:24:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10777503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissIF/pseuds/MissIF
Summary: After crashing on Corellia, Shiro comes face to face with four Force-sensitive younglings undiscovered by the Jedi, and takes it upon himself to train them. With the Clone Wars tearing the galaxy apart it is a dangerous mission, but with knowledge that Zarkon has something sinister planned for the Senate and Republic worlds, the team of seven makes it their mission to defeat Zarkon and save the galaxy.[renamedEpisode 1: Defenders of the Galaxy]





	1. From the Stars

Corellia was an interesting planet. It was home to the greatest pilots in the galaxy, and had a large industrial city that produced starships. Most of the planet was used for construction of the crafts and testing grounds for pilots, leaving the rest for industrial construction. The largest urban center was home to Corellia’s national piloting academy. Here the planet’s top notch pilots were trained overlooking the starship grounds, learning how to captain the latest starships and hovercrafts.

 

Lance’s favourite part of the planet was the testing grounds near the city, where pilots would take starships and test them out before sending them across the galaxy. Thankfully the grounds were located relatively close to the academy, so it was easy for him to watch from the safe area. Pidge and Hunk, although part of, rarely came down with him to view the ships, instead focusing on their studies and mechanics. Lance was more about the actual flying rather than the studies and mechanics behind it all.

 

So the day he finally convinced Hunk and Pidge to go check out some of the older models with him it was a miracle. Pidge had brought her tech pad and computer with her on her back, never without her technology, and Hunk had been convinced to leave his engine alone for a night so they could both enjoy it just as much as Lance.

 

“I don’t see why we have to go to the junkyard,” Pidge huffed. “There are plenty of good ships stationed just outside the academy.”

 

“Yeah but they’re all guarded, so it’d be impossible to get an upclose look at the control room!”

 

“You brought me out here to check out a broken control unit?”

 

“No, I brought you out here to see a broken control unit and figure out a way to save it. Imagine it, Pidge! We could have our own starship and finally get off this rock!”

 

“Lance, the junkyard is called a junkyard because that’s where we put everything that  _ can’t _ be saved. Tell him, Hunk.”

 

The taller boy fidgeted, “Well… I mean if we had the right parts and if the damage isn’t that bad, like maybe the clean up crew just couldn’t find anything, and if there’s a core battery that can be repaired-.”

 

“See?” Pidge looked at him. “If you want to get off planet so badly, why not just keep studying and graduate like every other pilot on Corellia?”

 

It took more than an hour, but they made it to the junkyard. Like Pidge had pointed out the flatland was piled high with old Corellian shipwrecks and pieces. Lance looked eager to search the grounds, forcing Hunk and Pidge to follow him around the piles and through the bits of scraps. As far as she could tell everything was broken beyond repair, and if there was anything worth saving the crew could have found it already. Nevertheless, Lance found the closest ship and climbed onto it, ignoring the groans and breaking metal, to open the cockpit and climbed inside the ship. It was a smaller ship, not used for cargo or transporting but star fighting. Watching her step, Pidge climbed up the side of the wing and leaned over Lance’s shoulder to get a look at the machinery he was playing with. Hunk climbed up too, seating himself behind Lance and looking down into the cockpit to watch.

 

Pidge could barely watch as Lance fiddled with the cogs and buttons, testing out the engine that didn’t work, and flicking on the sensors. “Come on, come on,” he muttered under his breath. Pidge rolled her eyes and shoved his hands aside, “Give me that.”

 

She took out her computer and plugged the connecting cords into the ship. If the sputtering engine battery and flickering lights told her anything, it was that this ship was still slightly functional. In all honesty Pidge had no intention of encouraging Lance’s ego on starships, but connecting her computer allowed the ship to share some power with the unit and turned the sensor modules on. It wasn’t fully powered, but Pidge was alright with that. She could tell that it would hold out as long as she needed.

 

“There,” she said. “Now what did you want to do?”

 

Lance grinned, “Hunk?”

 

Banging on the metal beneath him, Hunk shook his head, “Sorry buddy, if it takes Pidge’s computer to power up the sensors, then it’ll take me a whole solar cycle to repair the engine.”

 

Immediately Lance’s shoulders dropped and his smile faded. He groaned and leaned forward until his head bumped the control panel. “Man… So no starshipping?”

 

Hunk frowned and shook his head. Just sitting on the craft he could tell that the engine was beyond his skill level of repair. He didn’t know how, but he knew it was missing several important parts that allowed even simpler starships to fly. Hunk hadn’t brought anything other than his repair tool kit, and he had only found a few salvageable parts hanging around the junkyard. Not enough to repair an entire starship. Lance mopped and groaned, rolling his head, and Hunk patted his back in comfort. Pidge patted Lance’s shoulder and continued to stare at her com-unit.

 

Something about the readings were bothering her. According to the scanners the downed ship wasn’t picking anything up yet Pidge still felt anticipation in her veins. Nothing showed up in the readings but she felt like something was approaching her. To her, it felt like someone was walking up behind her, but there was nothing there, and so she chalked it up to nerves. 

 

But then something appeared on the scanner.

 

“What the-?” the readings grew stronger and she heard Hunk gasp at something. Lance looked up to where Hunk was pointing, and his mouth dropped. Pidge looked up with them, and the readings suddenly made sense.

 

Approaching them at star-speed was a ship. It burst through Corellia’s atmosphere like a blaster shot and fell to the earth, crashing into the jungle territory just beyond the junkyard. Pidge grabbed her macrobinoculars from her bag to look at the crash site. The ship was still in one piece but had landed half-way into the soft ground of the jungle. From what she could tell it was an escape pod, small enough to transport a small crew. Whether the occupants were dead or hurt, she couldn’t tell.

 

“What the heck was that?” Lance yelled, standing up. He grabbed Pidge’s macrobinoculars and looked through them at the crash site. Pidge used her computer to try to increase the focus on the ship, but the starship’s systems seemed to finally give in.

 

“Was that a ship?” Hunk asked out loud. “You think it’s one of those smuggler ships?”

 

“I don’t think so but-! Hey! What the hell is he doing here!?”

 

“Who do you see?”

 

Lance jumped out of the ship and rolled to the ground, “No way am I letting him check out the crash before me!”

 

“Lance!” Hunk jumped down with Pidge and they chased after Lance, “What did you see? Who is it?”

 

“It’s Keith, that show off is not beating me to whatever crashed in that pod!”

 

“Whoa, Keith?! I thought he was off planet?”

 

Pidge had no idea who they were talking about, “Who's Keith?!”

 

They made it to the pod crash in record time, Pidge and Hunk booking it after Lance to keep up. Keith, whom Lance had called a ‘show off’, was a boy no older than them with red coloured clothes and a knife strapped to his leg.

 

The three of them stopped in their tracks to stare at the wreckage. The ship was buried halfway in the ground, scraps of metal and broken parts were scattered around the crash. Keith held a piece of broken metal in his hands, apparently pulling apart the pods doors to get inside.

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked them.

 

Lance stormed towards the pod and pulled at the door lock, “Uh, we should be asking you that. Why are you investigating a crash site, Keith?”

 

“You know my name?”

 

“Uh, yeah. Back at the academy we were big time rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, most known academy rivalry?”

 

Keith looked very confused, “You go to the academy?”

 

“Yes! We were rival star pilots! You know! Lance and Keith, academy star rivals.”

 

“...Seriously, do I know you?”

 

To cease the awkwardness Keith was obviously experiencing, Hunk stepped forward, “How come you came to the crash? Do you know who’s inside?”

 

Keith looked to the door, “I… Not really. It was just a feeling.”

 

“Here, let me.” Pidge moved towards the door and plugged in her computer. Luckily the door operating system hadn’t been terribly damaged or broken, allowing her to whined her way around the security system and open the pod. The four of them walked into the escape pod, Pidge activating the light on her flashlight, and stopped. Inside the pod was a single lifeform that was human in appearance, dressed in dark tight clothes that were torn and damaged in several areas. He was unconscious, leaning over the control panel, and the four cadets ran to his side to make sure he was alive.

 

Thankfully, he was.

 

Keith and Lance pulled him away from the panel and looped his arms around their shoulders.

 

“Who is this guy?” Lance asked as he and Keith carried the unconscious man out of the pod.

 

Keith shook his head, “No idea. I thought you guys might know.”

 

“You got here first, dude. We thought you knew who it as.”

 

“How would I know this guy?”

 

“I don’t know! We saw you zipping over here and thought you knew what it was!”

 

They set the stranger down near the crash on his back. A scar crossed over his nose, and his hair was coloured white at the bangs. Pidge was tempted to call the security squad but something stopped her. A feeling came from this man, whether it was his life force or something evil Pidge couldn’t tell but the warmth she felt from him stopped her. He looked safe enough. Hunk went back into the pod to search for any indication on who the man was while Pidge, Lance, and Keith sat around him. With any luck the stranger wasn’t a wanted criminal.

 

Hunk came running out of the pod faster than Lance had ever seen him run. He was gasping and starved for breath when he stopped in front of them, nearly falling over.

 

“Hunk, are you okay?” he asked him. “You didn’t find an arm or anything did you!?”

 

Hunk shook his head as he gasped, “Not… a criminal… he’s… well look!”

 

He held out his hands and an sphere was lying him his palms. The sphere looked too small to hold anything, with black material and scratches marring its sides. The lid part was missing, leaving only a small opening at the top of the cylinder. Pidge took the sphere in her hands to get a closer look at the thing, and nearly dropped it.

 

“What is it?” asked Keith. He and Lance continued to look at the device in Pidge’s hands, while she looked at Hunk.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Hunk nodded.

 

“Holy shit.”

 

“What? What is it?” Lance asked. Pidge looked over the saber for a button and found it just under the top ring. Moving away from the unconscious man and her friends, Pidge held it far away from her and the hole up, gripped the saber in her hands and pressed the button.

 

Immediately the cylinder jolted in her hands and activated, a tall glowing purple blade emerging from the cylinder’s hole. Lance yelped and fell back, Keith stared at it in awe, and Hunk’s mouth fell open at the site of the blade.

 

“Jedi…” Keith whispered.

 

Then the blade flew from Pidge’s hands, deactivated, and stopped in the open hand of the stranger. It startled all four children, all turning to look as the man sat up and rubbed his neck. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, “I would really appreciate it if you didn’t play with this.”

 

“You… You’re a Jedi!” Lance yelled, pointing at the man.

 

The man cracked his neck and rolled it, “That I am,” he looked at the four of them, his eyebrows dropping, “What planet am I on?”

 

Lance answered quickly, and the man sighed, “That’s not that far from Coruscant. Good.”

 

The man tried to stand up but wobbled, Hunk rushing forward to help him onto his own feet.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“No problem, uh, sir.”

 

The Jedi smiled, “Just Shiro is fine. You’re cadet’s, correct?” they all nodded. “I need to make a call to Coruscant before I leave. Where’s the closest communications table?”

 

“The academy central communications building,” Keith answered. “It’s not far from here.”

 

Shiro nodded and took a step forward, only to crumble to a single knee. Hunk made to help him up, throwing the Jedi’s arm over his shoulder and acted as a stand for him.

 

Hunk frowned at the Jedi, “I think we should get you to an infirmary first, sir. Your leg isn’t looking too good.”

 

The Jedi smirked, “Good idea. Crashing into a planet really takes it out of you.”

 

An awkward laugh from Shiro pushed them into hurrying to the academy grounds, Pidge calling on the infirmary center to meet them outside.


	2. A Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After saving Shiro from the crashed pod the cadets, and Keith, find themselves quarantined by their professors until further notice. Luckily the notice comes before anyone could have predicted in the form of a surprise from Lance.

Meeting up with the academy professors with an injured Jedi among them was not pleasant. The medical team took Shiro away while Iverson, their simulation professor, chewed them out for trespassing onto the junkyard grounds and not reporting the crash to the Corellian authorities or academy. They were grounded to the academy ground until further notice.

 

However, they were allowed to see Shiro.

 

The Jedi was taken to the city’s general hospital and given the most esteemed room. According to the medical droid he wasn’t terribly injured, but he had suffered some bruising to his rib cage, leg, and arm. He looked comfortable in the bed, the old torn up clothes they found him in replaced with a standard medical robe. A nursing droid was unwrapping his left arm from a bandage when he greeted them.

 

“I wanted to say thank you. For digging me out of the pod earlier.”

 

Hunk stared for a second before rushing to Shiro’s side and grabbing his right arm. Lance didn’t understand why his friend was suddenly so panicked, until he saw the arm itself. The skin stopped mid bicep, a metal prosthetic connecting to him the rest of the way down his arm. It didn’t look like any kind of cybernetic he had seen before. It wasn’t even covered by a synthetic skin like most prosthetic's were these days.

 

“Are you okay!? Holy crap I didn’t see this before how did we miss this!? How much blood did you loose? Oh stars, did that happen in the crash? Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't the medic droid report this?!”

 

“Hunk,” Shiro put his left hand on top of Hunk’s shoulder, “It’s alright. I’ve had this for a while now, it didn’t happen in the crash.”

 

Letting go of the Jedi’s arm, Hunk sighed. The moment he had seen the mechno-arm he had freaked out, thinking that Shiro had been so seriously injured and he hadn’t noticed. Now that he knew about it, looking away from the mechno-arm wasn’t tough. Hunk did not want to think about what the Jedi went through to get it.

 

The others stood around the bed, Shiro kindly thanking each of them for pulling him out of the wreck.

“So you’re really a Jedi?” Lance asked, leaning over the bed table.

 

Shiro nodded and Lance broke into a smile, “Awesome! See Pidge I told you it was a good idea to go out last night!”

 

“Yes Lance, you said that already. I just want to know why a Jedi was in an escape pod in the first place. Aren’t the Jedi helping with the war?”

 

She looked at Shiro, and the Jedi nodded, “That’s right, Pidge. When the Separatists and Republic war began the Jedi were opposed to getting too involved but that changed, as I’m sure you know. Since then, yes, the Order has been backing the Republic.”

 

“So were you on a Separatist ship when we found you?”

 

Lance’s eyes widened, “Wait, you were fighting Separatists? Did they take you prisoner, is that why you were dressed like that?”

 

“Calm down,” Shiro smiled at them. “I wasn’t fighting Separatists. You don’t need to worry about any of that. I want to ask how you knew my pod was crashing. You four were the first on scene even before the Corellian authorities.”

 

Hunk and Lance pointed at Pidge.

 

Shiro looked at her in surprise, “How did you know?”

 

“Lance dragged me and Hunk out to the junkyard, and I just fixed up the sensor system on an old wreck," she shrugged. "It picked up the crashing pod.”

 

The Jedi nodded and looked to Keith, “What about you?”

 

“What about me?”

 

“I was told you reported to be the first one at the pod trying to pry open the door before the others got there. So how did you know I crashed?”

 

The four of them, cadets and Jedi, looked at Keith for his answer. He looked down, crossing his arms before shrugging, “I just… Got a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Then I saw you crash near the junkyard.”

 

Pidge thought that was a pretty vague answer, but Shiro seemed to understand. After that Iverson walked in, ordering them to leave, “The Jedi is recovering, cadets,” and marched them back to their quarantine. At Iverson’s order the four of them had been moved to the quarantine block of the academy, a bunk of beds in a circular room under surveillance, with a single refresher. They all changed into their slumber clothes, Pidge using the refresher, and slumped into the bunks.

 

Lance’s mind was racing at the thought of the Jedi he had saved. The stories of the Jedi and the Clone War hadn’t missing Corellia, and it had become a focal point for pilots to join. Lance himself had dreamed of joining the fight. It was a one way ticket to star hood, but after seeing the Jedi so injured and the prosthetic… Lance wasn’t so sure he was as eager to fight anymore. Still, just meeting the Jedi master was amazing. Lance wanted to ask him about the different planets in the Republic, if he had been to any and what they were like. The urge to leave Corellia seemed to have been revitalized after meeting someone who had been all over the galaxy. Lance smiled.

 

“You think we’ll ever get off planet?” he asked out loud, to no one in particular.

 

To his surprise it was Keith who answered, “I hope so. I’m sick of Corellia.”

 

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Kamino,” Pidge sounded from her bunk.

 

Lance leaned over his bunk to looked at her, “Why Kamino?”

 

“That’s where the clones are from. Just think about the technology I could learn from there about artificial growth!” Pidge stared off at the top of the bunk with stars in her eyes.

 

Hunk sighed deeply, “Too bad we’re grounded. Iverson isn’t going to let us out of here for a month after sneaking out.”

 

If irony was real than it was totally for proving Hunk wrong. The very next day the five cadets were visited by Shiro, the Jedi wearing grey clothes and a black tabard.

 

“This is where they send you for quarantine?”

 

They nodded and he gazed around at the bland room, “Not too different from the rooms at the temple.”

 

“Shiro?” Keith asked. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be heading for Coruscant?”

 

“I should,” Shiro turned and stepped towards the door, “But there’s just one thing I need to do before leaving.”

 

As fast as lightning Shiro turned on his heel and threw something at Lance. He couldn’t dodge, it was too fast for him to do much more than throw up his arms and pry the cup didn’t hit him. It never did.

 

“Whoa…”

 

“Lance how-?”

 

Lance opened his eyes and immediately understood why they were surprised. Floating in front of him was the cup that Shiro had thrown. It wasn’t touching anything, it wasn’t a trick. The cup was merely stayed in place a foot from Lance’s face. Then it dropped and Lance put his hands down in shock.

 

Shiro was smiling at him, “I thought so.”

 

“I…” Lance was lost for words, “How… what…”

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, “You used the Force, Lance. From what I can sense, all four of you are Force-sensitive.”

 

“All of us?”

 

“Yes, Keith. That’s probably why you knew something bad was happening and chased after the escape pod.”

 

Lance looked up at Shiro, a million thoughts running through his head.

 

“What… What does this mean, Shiro?”

 

The Jedi gripped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

 

“It means, Lance, that I’m taking you all to Coruscant with me to become Jedi.”

 

Shiro took them to the professors after that. Lance was still in shock, the others too, and so they just watched as Shiro explained his discovery to the board.

 

“Ridiculous,” Iverson’s eye twitched, “I’m sorry Master Jedi but there is no reason to believe that these children are any kind of beings that you say they are.”

 

“It does seem to be sudden,” one of the board members said.

 

Other members agreed, some even out-right accusing the Jedi of lying, but Shiro stopped them.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I know it does seem abrupt and impossible. I have only just met these cadets but I’ve spent my life training to recognize the Force when it is in front of me. These kids are special, they deserve a chance to better themselves with their gifts and the Jedi can help them. All I am asking is that you release Lance, Pidge, and Hunk of their student status, and allow me to chaperone them to Coruscant.”

 

Iverson looked like he was going to deny before the council responded.

  
“Very well, Jedi,” said one of the members. “We relinquish the children of their duties to the school, and entrust them to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how academies work and I'm not trying to. In the show everything happened so fast, and so it all shall in this to catch up to Netflix. Thank you to everyone for leaving kudo's and comments! I love reading them and hope you're all enjoying this story so far! I have lots planned.


	3. Coruscant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After saying their goodbyes to Corellia the four padawans-to-be and the Knight take to the stars on their way to Coruscant. There they meet some new Jedi, and Shiro recounts his past year to the Jedi Council.

After contacting their families and gathering some of their things, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith met Shiro outside on the academies star port in front of a ship. Shiro had nothing on him aside from his lightsaber and cloak, and seeing them arrive with sack of their belongings put a grin on his face.

“You do know that if you become Jedi then all these belongings won’t be allowed?”

Lance’s face broke out in panic, “What?! But what about my datapad with all my mom’s recipes? Or my face cream!?”

“You can keep them for now, but if you’re accepted into the temple then you’ll have to leave them in your assigned room. Part of being a Jedi is letting go of personal belongings.”

Ignoring the tear in Lance’s eye they boarded the starship after Shiro and strapped in.

The next week was spent in space, the four students learning all they could from Shiro about the basics of being a Jedi. Lance, getting over the possibility of throwing out his stuff, still couldn’t believe it. A couple days ago they were simple academy students learning how to pilot a starship, and now they were being taken away by a Jedi Knight to learn the Jedi way. Lance was Force-sensitive!

Giving it a name made Lance realize that some things suddenly made sense. The feelings he would get during battle simulations, his reflexes that seemed to surpass the other students, how he was drawn to Hunk and Pidge. Even Keith. According to Shiro it was the Force, a mysterious power that flowed throughout the universe and guided those sensitive to it towards each other. It could manipulate beings and guide them, it could ease a life force or end one. The Jedi, beings more sensitive to the Force than other beings, were able to manipulate the Force, Shiro explained, to their own degree in a number of ways: mind tricks, dream visions, consoling the mind, and manipulate the surrounding environment to their will. He demonstrated the power by lifting devices off the ship’s floor, levitating them around in front of Lance and the others. It was mesmerizing.

“You’ve all shown that you are sensitive to the Force,” Shiro explain, levitating a screw around them. “The next steps for you are being introduced to the Jedi Council, and because you’re all so old it would also be a chance for you to be given a master.”

The tool dropped into Shiro’s hand, and Pidge took the opportunity to ask, “The Council? Why do we need to meet a group of old Jedi or given a master? Can’t you just teach us?”

Shiro shook his head, “It doesn’t normally work like that, Pidge. Masters only take one padawan, and Force-sensitive children are usually taken to the temple at a very young age to being their training. Since you’re all older you will have to undertake basic training quickly, and then start your journey as Padawans. For that, you need a master who will teach you and train you for some years before becoming a Knight of the Order.”

“Is that what you did?”

His smile seemed to drop as he answered, “Yes. I trained with my master for over ten years, and seven years before that in the temple with other younglings.”

It may just have been Lance’s imagination, or maybe it was the Force, but he swore he felt a touch of sadness from Shiro.

“I’ll take you to the temple on Coruscant and speak to the Council. For now though, there is something I want you all to try.”

What Shiro had in mind was the four of them sitting in a circle in the cabin with their eyes closed. In front of each of them was a screw from the extra parts of the ship’s cargo hold. Shiro walked around them, levitating his own screw.

“This exercise is a test to lift the screw without touching it. Remember when we were in the bunk room and Lance caught the cup. It stopped in front of him before it could touch him, reacting to Lance’s pull at the Force. Now is your chance to do it again. Feel the screw in front of you, feel the person next to you and the ship around you through the Force. You need to see the screw without opening your eyes, and pull on the Force to lift it from the ground.”

Shiro watched them quietly to the side. The exercise was one of the first he had done at the temple when he was young and it was the easiest for younglings to being with. From what he felt from the children, they were strong with the Force, just as strong as any other padawan, but to Shiro it was strange. Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were all roughly fifteen, maybe sixteen, and had been undiscovered by the Jedi until Shiro had crashed onto their planet. It did not make sense to him. They should have appeared on the Jedi’s list of Force-sensitive children just like he had. The fact that they hadn’t was beyond curious. Shiro would have to consult the archives.

They were doing well though. Shiro could feel them in the Force, reaching out to the screws and trying to grasp it. As far as he could tell, Lance and Keith were the better so far, but were a bit strong on their grasps. Hunk was feeling around the screw but felt confused and afraid to touch it. Pidge was feeling confused but she was trying, reaching out to the screw yet perplexed about how she could pick it up without touching it. It was endearing.

To his surprise, Hunk was the first one to lift his screw. It was shaking and unsteady but slowly it lifted off the floor. Hunk’s face was scrunched up in concentration, and surely enough the screw levitated to his eye level. Keith was next, the screw rocketing into the air and twirling around dangerously. Shiro could feel that the boy was fixed on keeping the screw at his level, and the screw responded. Lance and Pidge were last, the both of them biting their lips as they concentrated on lifting the screw off the floor. Lance’s went a bit over his head but steadied and leveled out, while Pidge’s concentration continued to swap between the screw and another thought. Her screw would drop suddenly then float again as her concentration broke for a second.

“Pidge, concentrate on the screw. Ignore all other thoughts," Shiro spoke softly, "think of it as a data wall that needs to be cracked.”

Iverson, a commanding instructor at the academy the children had attended, had given Shiro his reports on the four. Pidge excelled at technological studies ranging from simple computers to advanced droid programming. If she was having trouble, Shiro could instruct her to think of it in a way she was familiar.

Pidge’s concentration snapped to the screw and it jolted to sit in front of her eyes. All four of them held the position, then Hunk opened his eyes.

“Whoa…”

The others followed, opening their eyes and keeping their concentration, looking at the screws as they floated at eye-level with them. Lance reached out to touch the screw, spinning it around with a smile on his face.

“This is amazing.”

“Keep your concentration, Lance,” Shiro instructed. “You have to keep your will on the screw to keep it from falling back down as you do other things.”

He sat down with them in the circle, willing the cog to circle them, “As you continue to train you’ll become more used to the concentration in the back of your mind. It becomes almost like a sixth sense to Jedi when moving smaller objects. Larger objects take more concentration and will to move with the Force, and it can sometimes take years before padawans have the dicipline to move them. Keep up your practices, and you’ll continue to get better.”

“You trained for almost twenty years Shiro,” Pidge willed her screw to move up and down, “How long do you think it’ll be before we’re at your level of mastery?”

“It depends on the person, Pidge. With the war going on you could be drafted into a battle before you know it, but luckily for you you’re starting at the beginners level. Before the Council can even think about sending you into battle, you have to have a certain amount of training and experience beforehand. Plus, you’ll need a lightsaber. 

Lance grinned, “When do we get our own?”

“When your master thinks you’re ready. Most padawans train at the temple for years before building their own lightsaber. You may train for months, or years even, before your master thinks you’re ready.”

Arriving on Coruscant was a gift to the cadets. They had never been off-planet before, let alone traveled to the inner core, and so the second they stepped out of the starship they were mesmerized.

Getting to the temple was entertaining for Shiro. The four younglings had never been to Coruscant before and were dazzled at the sight of the planet-wide city. They stared at every sight from the hovercrafts to the vendors and shops, asking Shiro all sorts of questions. Pidge even begged Shiro to stop at a shop filled with techno-devices. When they did arrive at the temple the kids were once again in astonishment. They had never seen so many Jedi before, and some of the Jedi even stopped when they recognized Shiro. The Knight was forced to excuse himself from their questions however, insisting that he had to get the children to the Council. He lead them through the maze that was the Jedi Temple, weaving their way past staring Jedi, before reaching a set of double doors.

Shiro stopped and turned to them, “You’re going to have to wait out here while I speak to the council.”

Keith nodded, as did Pidge and Lance, but Hunk asked, “What if someone asks us who we are?”

“Tell them. If they want to know why you’re at the temple, explain that you arrived with a Knight. I won’t be long.”

He left them at the doors and entered the chamber of the High Council.

Shiro was gone for an hour, and Keith was not having fun. The passing Jedi kept looking at them strangely, some groups would stare at them and whisper between themselves, and a young Jedi, maybe around his age, had come up to them and asked him what they were doing outside the Council’s chamber.

“We’re waiting for Shiro,” Keith told her.

“Who is Shiro? Is he a Jedi?”

“He’s a Knight, and he’s talking to the Masters.”

“Is he your Master?” she looked between the four of them curiously. She was taller than Hunk and easily peered over him to look at the others.

“No, he’s just a friend.”

The girl, Keith had no idea what her species was, looked at him in confusion. “If he is not your Master, does that not make you Jedi? I have never seen you before.”

“Shay!” a voice cried out. All five of them jolted at the voice, and looked as an older woman in long white and pink robes marched over to them. Her hair was white, long and curly, bouncing along behind her, and pink marks stood out under her blue eyes. She marched over to the Jedi girl with her hands on her hips, “What have I told you about running off ahead of me?”

Shay, the lizard/rock-like alien whom had approached Keith, looked down sheepishly, “Apologies, Master.”

The woman huffed, then looked at Keith, “I’m sorry if Shay was bothering you. She hasn’t been back at the temple in a while, and is quite eager, apparently, to get to her trials.”

Lance rushed to meet the woman, “No bother at all, my dear. Might I say, it’s my lucky day to have the chance to meet such a fine looking Jedi as yourself.”

Keith noticed Pidge palm her forehead as the woman stared at Lance bewilderment, before snatching her hand out of Lance’s grasp.

“Young padawan, do you speak this way to all Jedi or just when your Master is not around? I have it in good mind to speak to your Master about this inappropriate behaviour!” she scolded him.

Lance fell back to Hunk, staring at the woman in shock.

“Master,” Shay got her attention, “They say they are without a Jedi master. I think, perhaps, they are not of the Order.”

The woman looked at them, “None of you are padawans?”

“Not yet,” said Keith. “Shiro is talking to the Council now about us joining.”

“Shiro?” her face lit up and she turned to the double doors. “I haven’t heard from him in a deca-phoeb. Did he say when he will be out?”

Keith shrugged.

* * *

Thank the Force he had called ahead earlier to announce his arrival. There were five members of the High Council present in the chamber, the others present by hologram or otherwise unavailable. Master Yoda was there of course, the old Grand Master in his chair and a small smile on his face. Masters Kolar, Allie, Billaba, and Fisto all stared at him in awe, the other masters, Master Windu included, just as amazed.

Shiro didn’t blame them. The last time he had stood in front of any of the High Council members was over a year ago. It must have worried them when he sent that message, then vanished.

“Takashi Shirogane,” Master Fisto said.

Shiro bowed slightly, “Masters.”

“It has been a while, Shirogane. I hope you’ve been well over the year.”

“I…” that was a tough question. “It was manageable, Master.”

Master Windu eyed him suspiciously, “I hope that you plan on explaining what happened to you.”

Shiro didn’t have to use the Force to see he was looking at his arm and face. Honestly, he was scared to answer. His last year weighed down on him like a stone, and just the thought about it sent a tremble of fear down his spine.

“Afraid, you are,” Shiro looked to Master Yoda. “Sense great fear and pain from you, I do, regarding the past.”

Shiro nodded, “I am sorry, Masters. A year ago I sent you a message regarding my mission then disappeared. After that message I was captured by Galra soldiers and taken aboard their battle cruiser. They tortured me for answers but I gave them nothing regarding the Jedi Order or the Republic. After that, realizing I wouldn't tell them anything... they… ”

He stopped. For the life of him Shiro did not want to continue his report. But he had to give the Masters his report and so he took a breath, and forced himself to carry on.

“They decided I would be an entertaining specimen.”

“The Galra put you into their gladiator ring,” said Master Plo Koon.

Giving the Master a nod, Shiro continued, “I spent months fighting in their arena, gaining the title of ‘Champion’ amongst their gladiators and prisoners,” he squeezed his right hand tightly, “I was experimented on by their Force-sensitive witch Haggar and forced to kill… Eventually I gained the attention of m- of Zarkon.”

The Masters shifted uncomfortably. They all knew of Zarkon, of the old Master who had betrayed the Order and fell to the dark side of the Force. It was a mark on the Order and the High Council for not seeing the truth sooner. Master Fisto’s gaze softened,

“I am sorry for that, Shirogane.”

“It’s alright, Master Fisto. Zarkon only spoke to me for a short while, and I never saw him again. I was sent back to arena after that, but a few days ago I was able to escape with the help of some Galra rebels. My escape pod crashed on Corellia, where I was able to meet four Force-sensitive children.”

That took the Masters by surprise, and rightly so. It was extremely unusual for the Jedi to miss Force-sensitive younglings all from the same planet. Even stranger that they hadn’t been discovered until now.

Master Allie shifted forward, “Are you positive, Shirogane?”

“Yes, Master. I have brought them with me to Coruscant, and on our way here I was able to test them to confirm their ability.”

“Were you able to get a midichlorian count from them?”

Shiro shook his head, “I wasn’t. I was hoping that I could acquire one here, and hand them over to the temple to be trained properly.” 

* * *

Pidge wanted to ask the Master how she knew Shiro when the doors opened and out walked the Jedi Knight, looking shell-shocked.

“Shiro!” the woman yelled and jumped at him. Shiro looked up at her, “Allura?!” and she pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him and lifting him up off the ground. The younglings, Shay excluded, were startled by the Jedi’s sudden mood change, their eyes flashing back and forth from Shay to her Master.

The Jedi, Allura, released Shiro from her hug, “How are you? It’s been phoebs since I last saw you…” her eyes drifted over his face, the scar and white hair, and fell to his hand. Allura’s eyes widened. “Shiro what happened to you?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro smiled at her kindly.

Keith was about to asked Shiro what had happened with the Council, when Allura started and bowed, “Master Yoda.”

Seeing Shiro bow slightly at the Master, Keith bowed as well, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge copying him. Master Yoda was a little green alien, maybe as tall as Hunk’s shin, in old clothes and a robe with a cane in hand. He sat on a tiny hoverchair, and smiled at them.

“Your young padawans, are these, Shirogane?”

Shiro nodded and Allura’s head snapped to face him. He gave her an awkward smile and rubbed the back of his head.

Master Yoda smirked, “Good luck, I wish you, in their training.” 

“Thank you Master.”

When Master Yoda was gone, Allura tugged on Shiro’s arm. “Padawans?! Shirogane what have you been up to?”

Shiro gave her a look that read _tell you later_ before he looked to the cadets, “Congratulations, young Jedi. You’ve all been welcomed into the Order.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the fun begins.


	4. Intro to Meditation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having been accepted into the Jedi Order the four new padawans attend their first training exercise with their new Master, Shiro.

_Shiro stared at Master Yoda in disbelief, “I’m sorry Master… What?”_

 

_"Train the younglings you will,” Master Yoda repeated with a smile on his face. Shiro looked to the other masters for some kind of confusion, but there was none._

 

_“Master, I’ve never trained one padawan let alone four.”_

 

_“We’re aware of that Shirogane,” Master Windu said._

 

_“Then why assign them to me?”_

 

_Master Windu did not look happy, "This doesn’t follow the standard practice of the Jedi but we’re at war, Shirogane. The Republic is in dire need for assistance and we are spread too thinly to provide the help we need. With the Galra forces aiding the Separatists the clone army is hopelessly overwhelmed without Jedi aid. The Order needs more Jedi to help the Republic, and so we are making an exception for you.”_

 

_He wanted to argue the order, convince the Masters that he didn’t know how to or was qualified to teach a padawan, until Master Yoda spoke._

 

_“A chance for you this is, to better yourself as a Jedi Knight. Teach the younglings. Learn from them, I believe you will.”_

 

Shiro was panicking.

 

“You’ll do fine,” Allura told him.

 

“I’ve never even had one padawan, Allura. How am I supposed to train four? Why did Master Yoda do this to me?” his head dropped to the counter.

 

Allura patted her friend on the back, “I’m sure he had his reasons. The children already seemed attached to you, so they wouldn’t become as attached to a new teacher.”

 

“I thought it wasn’t normal for a Jedi to have more than one padawan at a time?”

 

“You aren’t exactly a normal Jedi, Shiro.”

 

“That doesn’t help. I don’t know how to train a padawan. I’ve been a prisoner for a year how can I possibly know what they need?”

 

“You taught them on the _Arusian_.”

 

“Only the basics to make sure they could use the Force if the Council didn’t believe me. How is one Knight supposed to train four padawans?”

 

“Shiro,” Allura pulled his head from the counter and held it between her hands, staring him in the eyes, “I know you can do this. You are a strong, reliant Jedi Knight who has survived more than even I have. Take what you were taught and learned, and apply it to your padawans. I know you have your doubts about teaching after your old Master, but I believe you are more than capable. The Masters believe as well.”

 

Allura did not break eye contact, her face hard, and Shiro sighed with a smile, “Thank you Allura.”

 

“You are very welcome.” she released his face, “Now tell me what you plan to begin their training with.”

* * *

 

“So how do I look?”

 

“Like a dork.”

 

“You’re just jealous because I’m rocking these Jedi clothes.”

 

Lance strutted around the room in front of his fellow padawans in his new outfit. It was no different from their own clothes, but Lance was determined, for some reason, to show off. After Shiro informed them that he himself would be their acting Master he showed them to their lodgings in the temple. A single room with four bunks for them to sleep on connected to a refresher. It was smaller than the quarantine room back at the academy, but much more pleasant to stay in. The dorm was stationed amongst others in the temple, and just across from the holographic training area. After getting settled the four new Jedi younglings were given a tour starring Shay and Allura alongside their new Master. They showed them the training grounds, inside and out, the gym, the banquet hall, the archive room, the hanger.

 

Pidge had gone nuts in the archives and she had tried to race off to get her hands on the datapads before Allura tugged on her collar. Hunk had drooled at the hanger when he got his sights on the hovercrafts and starships and banquet hall. When the Jedi took them to the lightsaber crafting room Keith’s eyes had sparkled until Lance made a joke and Keith growled at him. Lance was just amazed by the whole temple.

 

“What did Shiro say we would be doing today?” asked Hunk.

 

“Something with droids I think,” Keith twirled the knife in hand.

 

Lance flopped down to the floor, “Think we’ll get lightsabers to practice with?”

 

“We haven’t even started training yet.”

 

“A guy can dream, Keith.”

 

When Shiro came to collect them for the training he took them to the back of the temple to a room filled with statues and cushions.

 

“This is the Meditation Chapel,” he told them, “where you will spend an hour a day practicing meditation on the Force.”

 

“...We have to sit in here and do nothing for an hour every day?”

 

“Meditation can open your mind to the Force, allowing you to practice concentration and patience. Two skills a Jedi must be familiar with. While you are in the Chapel you must be quiet, Lance, and focus on the meditation.”

 

They sat on the cushions around the room like Shiro instructed, their legs crossed and their hands on their knees. It felt similar to the exercise Shiro had them do on the _Arusian_ , only without the screw to lift. Pidge felt her mind wander throughout the meditation just as it had when she used the Force. Without anything to concentrate on her mind drifted to her family. More specifically her brother and father.

 

Finding out who Shiro was had lit a fire in Pidge’s gut. Shiro was the Jedi who had guarded her father and brother on their mission to Kerberos. He was the same Jedi who had gone missing with them. Pidge, or rather Katie, desperately wanted to ask Shiro if he knew what happened to Matt and Dad, but she was afraid to give away her identity. Part of why she used the name Pidge was so the academy didn’t realize who she was, why her friends didn’t know. If Lance and Hunk knew they would treat her different, Shiro would treat her different.

 

Hunk’s thoughts drifted from food to machinery to his family. He missed Corellia and his mom and her cooking. It had been terrifying to find out he was a Jedi-in-training, terrifying and exhilarating. It set him on edge to know that the Jedi were taking part in the Clone war, he didn’t even want to think about the possibility that he would have to join. Hunk loved machines. They were what he studied at the academy and what, along with baking, helped his nerves. He could take them apart as easily as he could put them together, but the threat that he could be put into battle was terrifying.

 

Keith was tense. He had to sit in a room and do nothing as a training exercise, which to him didn’t make sense. Training in his mind wasn’t something you did by sitting around and doing nothing. Training involved hard work and sweat and hours of bone tiring exercise. But Shiro had told them to mediate, and if it was part of being a Jedi than he would try his damn hardest. When he went to the escape pod back on Corellia, Keith hadn’t known there would be a Jedi inside. The Force had pulled him to the pod, to Shiro, and now the Knight was his Master. From what Keith knew about Jedi Masters and padawans, it was his job to learn from Shiro. So mediate he would.

 

Lance had originally thought that sitting in the Chapel and meditating on nothing would be easy. Man was he wrong. Finding something to meditate on was maddening. He couldn’t think of anything having to do with the Force. He hadn’t studied for anything and Shiro hadn’t told them anything aside from “be quiet and focus on the Force”. Lance had no idea how to focus on the Force. It wasn’t an object or formation or anything with a physical body to picture, the Force was just a thing he felt. Maybe he just had to focus on what he felt? But that meant he actually had to focus first.

 

Watching the padawans from his own cushion let Shiro relax a bit. From what he could feel they were each having their own troubles with the meditation. Hunk felt a longing for home mixed with anxiety. Pidge had an overwhelming sadness flowing from her. Keith seemed determined, although to Shiro it seemed more forced than necessary. Lance felt confused and rightly so. No padawan could get the hang of meditation on the first try. Shiro hadn’t. In fact he still had trouble with it. It wasn’t an easy effort for any Jedi, but it was an easy trial to start the kids training off on.

 

Being in the Meditation Chapel, Shiro felt compelled to practice some of his own meditation. So he shut his eyes and delved into the Force. In the meditation he searched for the presences of his padawans, feeling out their physical presence in the Chapel and in the Force. When he found them, they were tiny. Their Force signatures were small but strong in Shiro’s mind. Wildly and young and free from the hardships Shiro knew he had to put them through. With the training their connections to the Force would no doubt get stronger and their signatures would grow with them. As their Master, it would be Shiro’s job to make sure it happened steadily.

 

Keith was too eager to please him as a padawan. He could follow his own path but would be dedicated enough to make sure that it would work in his favour. He would follow Shiro’s orders, even if it didn’t make sense to him as the meditation seemed to. Shiro would have to encourage questioning orders in him, but past the imperfections he could see tremendous potential.

 

He looked to Lance’s signature. The boy was headstrong and proud of who he was, yet Shiro could sense the uncertainty in him. Like Keith he was eager to show off what he could do but afraid of failure at the same time. He wanted to prove he could overcome the training just as easily as the other padawans could. For Shiro it was understandable, and beyond doable. With Lance he could work on self bettering, avoiding comparison to the others in favour of bettering himself.

 

Hunk felt afraid. Afraid of what exactly, Shiro couldn’t tell, but the fear was there nonetheless. It was easy to forget that he was only 16, having been taken away from his home to join a force he had no experience with. It was natural for Hunk to be scared. So Shiro would be a shoulder for him to lean on. A Master, like his own, who would be there for him to talk to convey these feelings to for support.

 

Lastly Pidge. From her Shiro felt great sadness and longing, her mind tucked inwards to block him out. Shiro did not mind, her mind was private and he wouldn’t pry. If Pidge was going to continue as his padawan she would need to learn to trust him, and for that Shiro would have to earn her trust first. He didn’t understand the sadness or longing but he could maybe share his own pain with her to forge a bond. Of course he wouldn’t go into details and he would definitely leave parts out for her sake.

  
Once the hour was up Shiro tapped his padawans on their shoulders to get their attention, and guided them out of the Chapel. “Go get some food,” he crossed his arms, “then meet me in the Archives room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little insight on how I view each character. Lance in the show is somewhat of a competitor and smartass, but he is still a kid. He has insecurities just like Hunk and Pidge do, and it's Shiro's job as their master to help them with their insecurities. Keith in the show is very much like Lance, but I feel like he, and this is due to lack of backstory, is very keen on having Shiro's approval and guidance in his life. So that will be reflected throughout this fic.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment!


	5. The Crystal Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the war brewing on Shiro and Allura decide it is time for their padawans to take the next step in their training and for that, they must go to Dantooine. Only once in a lifetime does a Jedi youngling get to enter one of these caves and only once do succeed in finding the Kyber crystal that will power their lightsaber.

Following the padawans studies hours in the Archives were months of training and research and teaching. Shiro showed them the different way to wield a lightsaber, allowing them practice with the training sabers, they studied the texts of the Jedi Order and were tested on what they had learned from their now shared history. They meditated daily and practiced with the training sabers, sparring against each other and Shiro and droids, and practiced wielding the Force in the training grounds. More than once Shiro took them around Coruscant to let them tour and check out every shop that caught their eye while avoiding the more dishonest vendors.

 

Over the months the stress began to grow on Shiro, forcing him to ask for the assistance of Allura Altea. With the approval of Master Yoda, Allura joined Shiro in training the padawans as her own as one of their two masters. Her training style was very different from Shiro’s. She pushed them to their limits and worked them hard, demanding that they had to catch up on a “decathebe” of training. They had no idea what a “decathebe” was until Shiro explained it was the Altea way of time telling. Basically they had to catch up on a decade of youngling training.

 

To the Masters’ disappointment, the Clone wars grew vigorously throughout the galaxy. The Galra and Separatist forces were merciless to the Republic and seemed to double their efforts in the war. To Shiro and Allura, it became clear that the six of them would soon be needed.

 

Being woken up earlier than normal one day was not something Pidge enjoyed. Normally she and the others would wake up around 7 a.m. to start a day of exercises and training, but today Allura had woken them at dawn. She told them to meet her and Shiro in the starfighter hangar. Rolling out of the bunk she staggered into the refresher to change clothes while the boys woke themselves up. Keith was first, grabbing his pants and tunic while Hunk literally rolled off his bunk with a groan. Lance was still sleeping until Hunk fell and grabbed his braid. Awaking with a scream Lance fell with Hunk.

 

Twenty minutes later the four padawans arrived in the hangar to see their masters, and Senator Coran, standing in front of a large starcruiser. Shiro looked like he had seen better days. There were bags under his eyes and a ragged look on his face.

 

“Coran?” Lance looked at the senator in surprise.

 

The senator, wearing a uniform from his home planet, smiled at him, “Ah, hello again younglings! I hope you’re as excited for the day as I am!”

 

Lance looked to Shiro, “What’s he talking about?”

 

Giving Allura a look, Shiro motioned to the starcruiser, “We’ll tell you on our way there.”

 

Once they were starborne Shiro and Allura sat the padawans down in the hull, Coran watching from the side.

 

“Today padawans,” Allura started, “we will travel to Dantooine and you will descend into the Crystal Cave to attain your very own Kyber crystal. These crystals are the key element in constructing your lightsaber.”

 

Their faces lit up in awe and excitement. Pidge, remembering the information she had read on Kyber crystals, looked curiously at Allura, “I thought you could only find Kyber crystals on Ilum?”

 

“Usually we would take you to Ilum in search for your crystals, but with the war still ongoing the Council thought Dantooine would be a safer alternative. When we land near the outpost, Shiro, Coran, and I will wait at the outpost while you four enter the Cave and earn your crystals.”

 

They made it to Dantooine and the Jedi enclave located there. The grasslands spread out for miles, and just outside the entrance to the cave was the enclave. Shiro and Allura lead their padawans to the cave entrance.

 

“Once you enter the cave you will not be allowed to leave until you all have found your crystals,” explained Shiro, “Inside you will find challenges, and keep in mind that these caves are home to _kinrath_ s, a poisonous arachnid that dug the tunnels connected to the cave.”

 

“What do we do if we come across those spider things?” Hunk asked with a worried look on his face.

 

“Rely on the Force, Hunk. Remember, patience yields focus.”

 

The masters sent them into the cave, the entrance sealing behind Keith with a rocky _thud_. He looked at his friends, “Guess we can’t get out that way.”

 

The padawans looked around the cave they had entered. It was amazing, dark and cool, and full of light. Dots of light lined the walls and floor randomly giving off rays of green and blue and yellow. The crystals drew their eyes, but none of them felt right. Pidge reached out for a yellow crystal by her feet, “None of these feel right to me. What about you guys?”

 

Keith shook his head like Hunk. Lance frowned and walked into the cave, “Shiro did say it would be a challenge. We’re not going to find our crystals at the front door.”

 

They ended splitting up to find their crystals as the tunnel system branched off. The four of them followed their senses and what they felt in the Force as Shiro instructed, leading them deeper and deeper into the catacombs. Lance followed the blue crystals. It was his favourite colour, it gave him a good feeling deep in his stomach whenever he looked at the colour. They lead him a deep hole, the rest of the tunnel stopping a few meters ahead. From what he could see in the hole there was nothing down there and so Lance turned around to head back when he slipped. “Oh no,” he muttered as he fell back, his head hitting the rock as Lance fell down the hole screaming.

 

Lance landed on his butt at the bottom of the hole. “Ow, ow, ow,” he rubbed his sore back. Lance turned around to see where he had ended up and stopped. The cavern was dark, much darker than the tunnels above, with a pool of water springing from the ground. A blue shine shone in the water, casting an eerie light to the room. Curious, Lance stood up and moved to the pool to get a better look at what was casting the light. The blue shone in Lance’s eye and he stopped.

 

At the bottom of the pool was a blue Kyber crystal.

* * *

 

Hunk regretted splitting up.

 

He had lost his way almost immediately after stepping into the tunnel, taking (what felt like) a wrong turn at every tunnel. None of the crystals he found felt like they were his, they were all yellow and blue and green and beautiful. Not his. Over the months of Shiro and Allura’s training had bettered his senses in the Force, so there was no doubt that he should feel attached to his own Kyber crystal. Yet for the life of him Hunk couldn’t feel anything coming from the crystals he found. At the academy he studied engines and machinery, not geology.

 

He was also really worried about coming across one of those _kinrath_ things. Reading about them in the archives was different than being on their home territory with the threat of poisonous animals being around the corner. Steeling himself, Hunk ducked under a low-dug part of the tunnel and stopped. Under his foot he felt something deep in the rock. It tugged at him, drawing his attention to the stone beneath his feet. Hunk dropped to his knees and placed his hands on the ground, reaching out to feel the item. Deep, deep under the rock was a crystal. Hunk could feel it, sense it, it called out to him. It was his Kyber crystal.

* * *

 

Pidge felt as if she had been walking for hours. She hadn’t, of course, but at this rate she might end up being stuck in this cave until her crystal found her. No way she went felt right in the Force. None of the crystals stood out to her or caught her eye. It was starting to get annoying. Had this been a program on her computer she could have hacked her way to the end in a minute if the Jedi didn’t leave their technology at the Archives. One of the first times Shiro took them to the training room she had brought her computer just out of habit, and her master had explained that Jedi didn’t fight with computers. Shiro knew it wasn’t her fault, she just felt more comfortable with it and all tech. Getting used to relying on the Archives room and the technology available around her had been a tad difficult. Not having her computer on her at the ready had come as a shock.

 

And now she was stuck underground searching for a stone she didn’t know looked like. Then she was surrounded by roots.

 

One wrong turn and she was standing in front of a miniature forest of vines and roots coming from the top of the tunnel. Just her luck that Pidge felt drawn to the other side of the tunnel where a green light shone. It wasn’t that she didn’t like nature, Pidge just got along better with technology than the outdoors. Stepping closer to the roots she tried to bend one to test their stability.

* * *

 

Keith didn’t mind the dark. He saw better in it than in the light. What he did mind that the gut feeling in the Force he was following had lead him straight to a nest of _kinrath_. The ugly bugs were bigger than he was, with four, no, five legs with the last leg sticking out of their chest. In the archives he had read about dangerous creatures Keith knew that the fifth leg was poisonous. Which meant he had to be very, very careful.

 

A normal person may look at this nest of deadly creatures and immediately go back, but Keith wasn’t normal. He was a Jedi padawan, and from what he was sensing his Kyber crystal was probably on the other side of these three _kinrath_. Perfect.

 

There was no safe way to sneak around or fight off the _kinrath_ that Keith could see. The only way through was to get past the _kinrath_ was to walk through them. Although if Keith did that, he would probably get seriously injured or die from poison. Yet the crystal was definitely on the other side of this room. So Keith had to find a way past the _kinrath._

* * *

 

Lance had no clue how deep the pool was, otherwise he would just swim down and grab the crystal. Water was deceptive. It could make something look close enough when it was really a hundred feet below leaving Lance to wonder just how he was going to get the crystal out. He sat at the edge of the pool and stuck his hand in to test the water. It was freezing, and definitely a lot deeper than it looked so he could dive in. “Rely on the Force” Shiro had said. Lance looked down into the pool at his crystal. If he couldn’t get it by hand, maybe he could use the Force to grab it? He crossed his legs, set his hands on his knees and concentrated on the Kyber crystal.

 

He reached out through the Force and down through the water. It was deep, spreading out into an underground lake a mile below the tunnel, and the Kyber crystal gave off an impressive amount of energy. Lance reached out with the Force, his hand following the motion, and grasped the crystal strongly, and took it from the wall. It came loose, and Lance carefully pulled it up through a good fifty feet of water. In the Force, the crystal felt energetic and alive, a pulse rippling through his mind as the crystal came free of the water. Lance kept his mind on keeping the crystal hovering, until he stood before it and let it fall into his hands.

 

The Kyber crystal was a gorgeous bright blue, almost like ice in his hand. Lance could hardly believe it. His very own Kyber crystal. With it he was one step closer to his own lightsaber. Tucking the crystal into his pocket, with a smile on his face, Lance exited the tunnel and made his way back to the cave entrance.

* * *

 

Hunk had tucked himself into a corner as comfortably as he could in the cramped space. It was going to be hard to get his crystal out. He couldn’t see it, it was buried under rock and soil and he had nothing to dig with. The only thing he could think of was to use the Force to pull the crystal up, but he didn’t know if that could work with rock. If they were crystals that would mean they were stronger than rock, and since Kyber crystals were at the center of lightsabers that would have to mean they were unnaturally strong and could break through rock easily.

 

He could use the Force to bring the crystal to him, but Hunk was worried that would damage his crystal. If Hunk was going to be using this crystal to construct his own lightsaber, he wanted it to be perfect. So he looked for cracks in the rock and soft places he could force open easily without damaging the crystal. He moved away loose pebbles and rocks as best he could before finding a crack in the earth. Right over where he had felt his crystal.

 

None of the rocks he had pulled were going to help, so the only thing left for him to do was pull at the crystal. Hunk sat back and closed his eyes, feeling out his crystal. It wasn’t far below, and it seemed as though the crack went straight down. So Hunk focused on the crack and pulled. His mind stretched and his arms stretched with them as if they were pulling the crack open, and small snaps and cracks sounded as the hole opened up. With a final pull Hunk tore a hole the size of his head into the rock, and arms dropped. His head fell back to the tunnel wall and he breathed deeply. _Never knew it would be that tiring_ , he thought, but there it was. Shining yellow like the sun from the hole was his Kyber crystal. It was beautiful. Hunk took it carefully in hand and looked at it. The crystal was small and a bit dented on the edge, but perfect. A rush of excitement flew through Hunk and he quickly crawled back under the rock to make his way back to the cave entrance.

* * *

 

Now that she knew the roots weren’t stone hard, Pidge could bend them away easily. The newest problem was that there were just so many. The roots blocked her sight of the other side of the tunnel, hanging from all kinds of angles, some stopping halfway down some touching the floor. It was like a maze of tree roots.

 

Lucky for Pidge she was small, and so she could weave around most of the roots. It became almost like a dance to her, sliding below and stepping over roots, ducking and lifting her back and jumping. She jumped over a row of roots and twirled around a particularly thick vine, keeping herself stationed and her back straight while her knees were bents and her arms loose. She followed the Force feeling coming from the end of the tunnel, a green light peeking through the roots as she moved.

 

Pidge loved the colour green. It hadn’t been Matt’s favourite but it was hers, and that was something she loved. Back on Corellia people were always comparing her to Matt, her older, piloting brother with a love for the Outer Rim. Green had become something that differed between them. Now though, Pidge wouldn’t give a damn about the colour if she could just get her brother back.

 

Ducking under a low hanging root caused Pidge to trip over another one. Rubbing her nose, she sat up to see how far she still had to go. Not far apparently. The light shone brightest just behind a curtain of roots, a curtain that Pidge couldn’t seem to get around to crawl under.

 

They were the same root however, meaning that Pidge could, as she wanted to before, used the Force to move them aside. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the roots, each of them, and wove them away from the crystal slow enough not to damage them. She wove them to the side walls and intertwined some with others like a braid, until they were away enough for her to see the crystal. It glowed green and shone in her presence, and Pidge felt herself smile at the sight of it.

 

She took the crystal from the rock wall and held it in her hand, then weaved her way back through the tunnel towards the cave entrance.

* * *

 

Keith had no idea how he was going to get past the _kinrath_ in his way. He couldn’t fight them without dying and if he caused as cave to squish them it would block his way to the crystal. Thankfully they hadn’t seemed to notice him yet, and he ducked around the corner to keep it that way. He could try jumping over them, but the tunnel wasn’t tall enough for that. Every plan he could think up was shot down by the size of the tunnel and the _kinrath_ in his way.

 

He thought about what Shiro might do in his position. If Shiro were here he could use the Force to get past the _kinrath_. That sparked an idea, and Keith jolted up to his feet. If he could use the Force to keep the _kinrath_ calm he could get by them. The only problem was that he was never taught how to do that.

 

_Guess it’s now or never_ , and he stepped back to the tunnel with the _kinrath_. One of them turned towards him and sniffed, then growled.

 

Keith closed his eyes, “Patience yields focus.”

 

The other _kinrath_ growled at him and made to charge, Keith held out his hands to them and focused the Force. He focused on the times he felt tired, the feeling of exhaustion that made its way through him on late nights back on Corellia, and focused that feeling out towards the _kinrath_ . They stuttered and shook their heads, confused by the feeling, and Keith put more effort into the feeling. He stepped forwards but kept his eyes on the _kinrath_ , stretching out his power to them with only one thought in mind, sleep.

 

One of the _kinrath_ fell over, asleep, while the other two were looking confused and tired. They wobbled as Keith pressed forward, pressing memories of his bunk and warm blanket and sleep into their minds. It was strange to use the Force this way. To force thoughts on to another being that couldn’t resist it, that wasn’t Force-sensitive like he was. But Keith had to, he needed to get around them and this was the safety way he could think of, even if he didn’t like it.

  
Another _kinrath_ fell asleep on the floor and the third cried out at Keith. Then it charged. Forgetting the Force, Keith broke into a run for the end of the tunnel, a red light shining out of a broken egg cup. He rolled and grabbed it then skidded to a halt and watched the _kinrath_ get closer until it was on top of him, its fifth appendage striking down at him. Keith rolled under the creature, avoiding the poisonous leg, and made a break for the tunnel. The _kinrath_ followed him until Keith forced a part of the tunnel to collapse on the creature, trapping it and allowing him to escape back to the cave entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to have a lot of symbolism in this chapter that would work with how the paladins got their lions, and how the padawans get their lightsabers. Lance's element is water, so his crystal is at the bottom of a pool of water. Hunk's is earth so his is buried in the rock of the cave. Pidge's is nature or forestry so her's is lost behind a forest of roots. Keith's is fire, but in the show he finds it just as the Galra sentinels find him. In this his crystal is guarded by nasty bugs.


	6. Intrusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part based on the Voltron episode 'The Fall of the Castle of Lions'. After finding their kyber crystals the padawans and the masters, as well as Coran, board their ship with the plans to forge their personal lightsabers. It does not turn out as Allura or Shiro had hoped.

Aboard the _Balma_ the padawans had gathered in the bridge to practice their skills a bit. Lance was using the training droid and a mask, blocking the shocks the droid sent his way. One last shock and Lance knocked it away, twirling around and striking the droid to the ground, “I call that one the Twisted Hurricane.”

Keith rolled his eyes while Hunk and Pidge smirked. The door opened and in walked Allura and Shiro, Coran following in behind them.

“You all did well on Dantooine,” Allura said to them, “and have each gained the your very own Kyber crystal. Congratulations, padawans.”

“Does this mean we’ll get our own lightsabers now?” asked Hunk.

Allura nodded, “Yes Hunk. In fact, that very lesson begins now. Coran.”

The senator stepped forwards, “So young ones, do any of you know how a Jedi’s lightsaber is made?” The four shook their heads. “No? Well neither do I, which is why the Jedi have a very special person with them! May I introduce my good friend Professor Huyang!”

Coran saluted to behind the deck as footsteps sounded and the professor walked into view. The professor was an Mark IV droid, with a backpack fashioned to his back and a spectacle attachment above his eye. He walked up to the padawans and studied them, “So these are the infamous young padawans I’ve heard so much about. Interesting. Very interesting.”

Keith was very confused, “How are we supposed to learn to build lightsabers from a droid?”

“What? Who said that?” Professor Huyang looked between them. Keith stepped out and the droid looked at him, “Young padawan I have taught many a generation of younglings before you and I will teach younglings after you. Stored within my memory banks is a record of every lightsaber ever made and the Jedi who fashioned them.” Huyang pressed a button on the desks panel and a hologram of a dozen lightsabers lit up. “It is the duty of every Jedi youngling to forge their own lightsaber, but how do they work? You have brought me crystals but they’re all useless unless you give them life.

Do you know how to awaken the Force within the crystal?” they shook their heads and the professor turned back to Keith, “No? Then I suggest you listen and learn until you think of a question this droid cannot answer. It is my job that before you leave this ship you will have everything you need to build your lightsabers, and the knowledge of how to do it. So let us begin, there is much more work to be done.”

They spent the next hour assembling the components that would go into their lightsabers. Huyang had them describe what they felt pulled to through the Force, what they believed their saber would look and feel like, and he pulled pieces out of the drawers in the wall. Once their pieces were all assembled the padawans sat down around the room, studied the diagram, and began to forge their lightsabers.

According to Huyang they had to focus the Force into building their lightsabers, thus making the task more difficult for some of them. Hunk seemed to be faring well, he had always had an act for engineering and building. Pidge was doing well also, adjusting the screws and bits of wiring after the diagram. Lance and Keith were having a bit more trouble. Lance wanted to be the first to finish his lightsaber like he had been the first one at the cave entrance. He wanted to get to practicing and dueling with his lightsaber, maybe even challenge Shiro to a duel. Keith was taking his time, working out how he wanted the components to fit and making sure everything was the way the diagram showed.

When he showed his masters his Kyber crystal Allura had looked shocked. That didn’t sit well with Keith. Sure, red was a colour the Jedi generally classified with Sith, those who sided with the Dark side of the Force, but Keith’s crystal was different. To him, it wasn’t so much the blood red Sith associated with and more of a warm campfire scarlet. Allura hadn’t looked happy, and Shiro had congratulated him but looked heartbroken at the crystal. So Keith was determined to prove that his lightsaber would be used only for good. He was no Sith.

Coran watched over them with Professor Huyang while Allura practically dragged Shiro onto a cot for some rest. “You’re scaring the padawans,” she told him. “And you’re worrying me as well.”

“I’m fine, Allura.”

He made to stand up but Allura put one hand on his chest and stopped him, “Oh no you do not, Shirogane. I can go watch the padawans, you need to stay in here and get some sleep. You look awful.”

“I don’t think sleep will help much,” he frowned.

Allura sat down next to him. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Just some memories that have been bothering me, don’t worry about it.”

“Shiro, you are my oldest friend. I’m going to worry regardless. Now tell me about the memories.” Allura studied his face and spoke quietly, “Are they from your time as a prisoner?”

Shiro nodded. _Of course_ , she thought. Master Gallia had talked to her before Allura had met the padawans, informing her on Shiro’s last deca-phoeb and the hell he went through. Even with the war going on, that single year with the Galra had damaged Shiro considerably. He wasn’t a Jedi innocent to death and fighting, but to have to do it against his will would wreck her friend’s mind. Allura did not like of the Galra, even before Zarkon had killed her father, but hearing about the atrocities Shiro had to go through pushed her dangerously close to pure hatred.

“If you do not wish to talk about it than I will not press you, it is your choice. But Shiro, not talking to someone about this will end up being the death of you. So I’m going to urge you to at least talk to Master Yoda about it. We cannot do anything about the memories, but maybe we can help you through them.”

Shiro stared at her, his eyes softening, and his hands wove together as he looked down, “It was about my first fight as a gladiator. Matthew Holt and I were taken with a bunch of other prisoners to fight a gladiator.” Allura had known Matthew from the time Shiro had introduced him to her. He was nice. “They chose Matt first but it was my job to protect him. I attacked the guard and hurt Matt so he couldn’t fight, then they took me. I didn’t want to fight, but the gladiator couldn’t be reasoned with…” Shiro frowned and seemed to shrink, “My training took over and I almost killed him. That’s what I dreamed about. It keeps happening every other night. I’ll wake up in a cold sweat, panicking and confused about where I am. When I meditate I have to avoid thinking about the war, who we’re facing, otherwise my memories shock me and leave me shaking.” 

He looked her in the eye, “Don’t tell the padawans. You can’t tell them anything about this, Allura.”

“I promise,” and she hugged him. She couldn’t begin to imagine the hell Shiro had gone through at the hands of the Galra, he was a strong Jedi and well practiced in their teachings, but when she had seen him after his report to the Masters, her heart had jumped. He didn’t have the white hair or cybernetic arm when she had seen him just a movement before he left with the Holts, and it killed her to know that it was because of Zarkon and his Galra soldiers. She wanted nothing more than to rip Zarkon apart for what he had done to her father, but right now Zarkon could wait. She had to be there for her friend.

Footsteps sounded outside the room and Hunk came running in, followed closely by Pidge, Lance, and Keith, “Shiro! Allura! We finished our lightsabers!”

Then the ship was hit.

They rocketed and grasped the sides of the wall for support, Pidge falling to her knees and Shiro nearly falling off the bunk it was so sudden. Allura ran to the intercom, “Coran! What was that?”

“A ship, Princess,” Coran sounded over the comm unit, “and a large one at that I fear. R5 has tried to hail them but our frequencies are being jammed.”

She grimaced and turned to the padawans, “All of you get to the control room and lock the door until you hear from either Shiro or I. I don’t know who we’re up against, but you four are not ready to battle an enemy upfront. Now go!”

Keith, Pidge, and Hunk made a break for the control room, Lance staying back to give his masters a worried look.

“What about you guys?” he asked Shiro.

“Don’t worry about us, just get somewhere safe.”

The Knights followed their padawan out into the hall and headed after the others, the ship rocking again and sending them sprawling to the floor. Shiro heard the sound of metal being ripped apart, and turned towards the docking bay. Something had latched onto the ship and whatever it was, it was beginning to tear a hole in the door.

“Allura!” he practically screamed, “Take Lance to the control center and make a call for help. Lance, stay with Allura!”

His fellow Knight nodded and took off but Lance stayed back, his eyes on the door.

“Lance! I told you to go with Allura!”

“I’m not just gonna leave you alone to fight. Whomever’s breaking into our ship needs to be stopped!”

Too late to argue. The door opened and smoke billowed onto the ship, followed closely by Shiro’s worst nightmare. Two Galra soldiers, and a good few sentries, walked on board looking around the ship. The shorter of the two soldiers Shiro did not recognize, but the taller and larger he did. Damn it. He looked over, Shiro stepped in front of Lance, and his yellow eyes seemed taken aback.

“Well, if it isn’t the Champion,” the Galra smiled.

Shiro scowled and glared at the intruder, “Sendak.”

“So,” Sendak took a few steps into the ship, “you do remember. I would have thought Emperor Zarkon would have had your memory wiped clean so you couldn’t go telling your precious Jedi Masters about the empire.”

“Guess you thought wrong, as usual.”

Sendak growled and looked to Lance, “The rumors were correct, so I see. You’ve gone and gotten yourself an apprentice. Tell me, Shirogane, are you training him just as well as your own master trained you?”

Activating his lightsaber, Shiro guarded Lance and told him without taking his eyes off Sendak, “Lance, go find Allura and tell her that it’s the Galra who attacked the ship.”

“You’re not going anywhere, boy,” Sendak’s arm flew out from next to him at Lance. Shiro pushed him out of the way and dodged the clawed hand, before rushing at Sendak with his lightsaber. The Galra dodged the weapon strike, kicking out at Shiro as he fell back. While Shiro dodged and dueled dangerously with the Galra, Lance retreated his way inside the ship. He deflected the blasts aimed at him back at the sentries, and ducked just as the other Galra aimed a hit at his head.

Shiro rolled over Sendak’s arm and aimed his lightsaber for the energy connecting it to Sendak. The Galra pulled his arm back to dodge the blade, “It looks like you’re unable to aim for the kill, Champion. I would have thought Emperor Zarkon taught you better.”

“He taught me enough,” Shiro used the Force to shove Sendak back onto the wall, creating a dent.

Lance dodged a strike from the Galra and kicked him in the shin, knocking him down and sending a good kick to his yellow-eyed face. The sentries fired at him, forcing him to deflect them back. He had to be careful about where he deflected them, not wanting to hit Shiro who seemed to be evenly matched against his enemy. He managed to take down a couple of the sentries just before a surge of pain flared through his leg. He cried out and fell to his knees.

The Galra stood over him, his gloved hand crackling with electricity, “I would have thought someone learning from Emperor Zarkon’s apprentice would have put up a bigger fight.”

Lance had just enough time to think _what?_ before the Galra’s hand grabbed his face, sending bolts of electricity down his spine.

* * *

Hearing Lance scream caused Shiro to look away from his fight, and Sendak got in a luck hit. He sideswiped Shiro, using his mecharm to throw him into the wall with an ugly _BANG_. The moment Shiro dropped his lightsaber, Sendak grabbed it and smirked. He held it up like a trophy, “I wonder how well you’ll fare without your precious sword.”

His mecharm stretched out at Shiro, who jumped over it and rolled to the side. Without his lightsaber he would have to switch tactics, something he was glad Lance was unconscious for. Skidding to a halt in front of Sendak, Shiro outstretched his hand and activated the prosthetic. His right hand lit up neon purple, energy surging through his arm, and Shiro slashed at Sendak’s own prosthetic. Sendak seemed confused and surprised at once, and blocked Shiro’s attack with his own arm, the two of them falling into a hand-to-hand battle.

A smile spread across the Galra’s face, “I see you’ve spent time with the druids. Too bad you didn’t get the latest model.”

Power blossomed in Sendak’s hand as it lit up and cackled electricity. Shiro frowned but he didn’t lose hope, “I don’t need their power when the Force is always stronger.”

Shiro stretched out and focused the Force to Sendak’s hand. He focused on his lightsaber, grasping it, and tearing it away from Sendak’s grasp and back into his own. Lighting up the purple-black blade, Shiro readied himself for another round of battle when he heard, “Enough. Surrender now, or your apprentice won’t make it.”

Shiro looked back. Lance was unconscious at the foot of the other Galra and two sentries, their guns pointed at his back. Shiro was at a crossroad, if he surrendered than Allura may not know who had invaded the ship, but if he didn’t then Lance may get hurt or even die. He didn’t get to decide, and the last thing he felt was Sendak’s arm hit his neck.

* * *

Allura was beyond worried at this point. Realizing Lance wasn’t behind her meant he had stayed with Shiro, so he should be alright, which left her with checking on the ship that was holding them. The padawans were all safe, Coran and Professor Huyang accounted for, and R5, whom Pidge had aptly nicknamed ‘Rover’, was frantically checking the systems and reporting that the attacking ship had latched onto them and broken open the boarding door. 

“Who would be foolish enough to attack a Jedi vessel?” Coran asked.

Allura scowled, only one answer in her mind, “Galra. They must have been tracking Shiro and decided that now was the best time to attack.”

“But Princess, what would they want? We have nothing of value on board.”

“Not necessarily,” Professor Huyang interrupted. “We have Kyber crystals and Jedi lightsabers, both worth a fortune of credits on the black market. The Galra may be here to collect the crystals for their master.”

Allura didn’t care to think about the other possibility for the Galra’s attack, so she focused on keeping her padawans safe.

“It doesn’t matter why they are here, all that matters now is that we get them off our ship so we can jump to Coruscant. Pidge, Hunk, stay here with Coran and Huyang. Once the Galra are off we will need you to activate the hyperdrive. Keith, follow me.”

“Why does Keith get to go and we’re stuck here?” Pidge, very annoyed, asked.

“Because Pidge, you two and Coran have the most training in starship piloting and engineering. R5 will report if something has been damaged to stop us from using the hyperdrive, which means Hunk, it will be your job to make sure all our systems are fully operational. Keep Coran and the professor safe, padawans.”

She left them in the control room, Keith following her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finding it harder and harder to connect the little details between voltron and star wars to make this story seamless, luckily both universes have very bendable story lines. Next chapter will continue and it will follow the same line as the Netflix episode. Pidge will get her chance to shine!


	7. Intrusion Pt.2

Pidge was not happy. Today was supposed to have been an amazing day full of lightsaber training and new techniques, not being invaded by space pirates. She would have rathered be out there fighting them off with Allura, not stuck in the bridge with Coran and Hunk doing nothing. Rover reported nothing was too damaged about the ship, but that the intruders ship had locked onto them making it impossible to go to light speed. They would have to manually disengage the lock on their ship to make an escape.

Grounding herself over the computer, Pidge monitored the ship for any sign of Shiro and Lance. Hunk was over by Rover, trying to get the scanners to work again.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered. “Nothing in here is broken so why aren’t the scanners picking up lifeforms? We’re being attacked by people so they should go up.”

“If they are Galra,” Coran spoke, “then they wouldn’t have brought a lot of live soldiers. Most likely they’re sentry droids following a commander.”

“Okay but that still doesn’t make sense as to why the scanners aren’t working. Rover said they’re not picking up any lifeforms, including us, and I’m pretty sure we’re alive.”

Something clicked off on Pidge’s monitor, turning on an emergency door lock. “Uh, Coran? This ship doesn’t have automated door locks does it?”

“No, the locks are either manually locked from the outside or from in here.”

“Well then I think I know why the scanners aren’t working.”

* * *

Allura led Keith down the hall slowly. She was tense and upset, Keith could feel her anger through the Force around her. Whomever these Galra were, Allura hated them. Keith tried to remember if there had been any archives he had read about the species but came up with no reason for them to attack their ship. They weren’t a reported species to deal in thievery or piracy, the archives had them listed under a militaristic type that dealt in wars. They were allied with the Separatists and a major force in the Clone war, but they had no reason to attack a Jedi vessel in Republic space.

“What do you think they’re after?” he asked Allura.

His master peeked around the corner, “I haven’t a clue, but whatever it is we will not let them get their filthy claws on it.”

Nodding, Keith followed her towards the boarding station where Allura quickly pulled him back. Her hand flew over his mouth and she looked around the corner, shook her head, then him go and took out her lightsaber. A blue-white blade extended out of the white-gold hilt, and Keith copied her summoning out his own scarlet lightsaber.

“Sentries,” Allura whispered.

Gripping his lightsaber, Keith jumped after Allura into the hall and surprised the sentries. Blocking back a blast back into the sentry's leg, Keith stabbed his lightsaber through the robot’s chest. Allura had taken the other sentry out as well, its head missing from its body.

“We need to inform Coran that it is indeed Galra,” Allura glared at the android, “this attack will not sit well with the Order or the Senate.”

“If they knew there were Jedi on board, wouldn’t they have brought more?” Keith asked her. He wasn’t that familiar with Galra, but from the ease that these sentries were defeated it was hard to believe that a major force driving the war would bring only a few disposable droids.

“They may not have known who was driving this vessel, only that it was a Republic ship and worth their time to ransack.” Allura tapped on the comm unit, “Coran, it is the Galra who are attacking the ship. Keith and I have already taken down two sentries and will continue on until the Galra are either off this ship or dead.”

“Be careful Princess,” Coran’s voice sounded over the comm unit, “we aren’t detecting any life signatures in here, and Pidge believes one of the Galra may be tampering with the ship’s wiring. Wha-? Hey!”

“Allura!” Pidge’s voice now. “The door to the bridge was locked manually from the inside. I think that’s where Shiro and Lance are."

Keith’s master looked at him before turning to the comm unit, “Thank you Pidge. Keith and I will scout ahead while you and Hunk work on getting the systems working in order. Coran, once we’re done with these Galra I want you to personally inform the Senate of this attack. The Order will not stand for it.”

* * *

Shiro had been bound, his hands held behind his back by stun cuffs. Lance was unconscious, left to the side with Haxus, the Galra who came on board with Sendak, standing over him with a watchful eye. The invaders had brought them to the bridge and locked the doors, Haxus breaking into the doors control unit and rewiring the system to his will. Had Shiro have had his lightsaber he would have stuck it in the Galra’s chest. Fortunately for Haxus, the lightsabers had been the first things Sendak had claimed. 

Said Galra commander seemed to take great pleasure in this attack, taking the moment of relative peace to gloat.

“It’s almost funny, isn’t it? Just a decade ago the Galra accepted you as a comrade, a fellow soldier to Emperor Zarkon.” Sendak unhooked Shiro’s lightsaber from his belt and held it in his hand, “You even have the same laser blade as him, and yet you continue to defy our master.” Sendak crouched in front of him and Shiro refused to meet his gaze, “I trust you’ve heard what our master has become to your precious Jedi. If you had followed him, I’m sure you could have gained the same power. Of course, then I’d probably have to listen to a brat’s orders.”

“Commander Sendak,” Haxus called. “The two sentries placed at the boarding station have been destroyed.”

Sendak stood up, “Turn on the energy field and lock them in the room. We’ll collect their Kyber crystals after we’ve dealt with the rest of the Jedi on board.”

Haxus nodded and turned back to his wrist com. Shiro took his turn to glare at Sendak, “What does Zarkon want with Kyber crystals? He already has his own. Taking a few from some no good Jedi won’t change the war.”

Sendak ignored him, “Contact the control room. The other Jedi may be hiding there.”

“How did you know where we were?!” Shiro yelled at him. He wanted answers, his padawans’ lives were at stake as well as Allura’s and Coran’s and Professor Huyang’s. He didn’t care what Sendak had to say about their-, his master. He only wanted the younglings safe.

* * *

Pidge showed Coran and Huyang the sensors going off around the ship. Somehow the Galra had linked into the ship’s mainframe and was using it to slowly shut down their defenses. They had locked the bridge doors shut, and an energy field had been activated near the boarding doors where Allura and Keith were. 

“Jedi,” a hologram appeared on the control desk, a large Galra with a mechno-arm and eye staring at them. “This vessel is now under the control of the Galra empire. I have already defeated your master, and have three of your Jedi prisoner. The rest of you will turn yourselves over and relinquish your Kyber crystals.”

Hunk looked to Coran while Pidge stormed over to hologram, “I don’t care who you are, you’re messing with the wrong Jedi! We’re going to take you and all your stupid sentries down.”

“You have heart, child,” the Galra sneered, “but this ship is mine! Unless you’d rather die like a womp rat you will hand yourself over.”

“Never.”

“Then perhaps your leader can convince you.”

The Galra reached out of the picture and Shiro was pulled into view. Hunk bite his lip to suppress a cry and Pidge stared at the hologram in shock. Their master wasn’t looking too well. His hands were bound behind his back and a nasty bruise was forming on his neck. He was glaring at the Galra, “What do you want?”

“Let see if you can persuade this child out of hiding, Shirogane.”

Pidge saw sparks flying off the Galra’s mech-arm, “Shiro!”

“Pidge? Pidge whatever you do, don’t-” Hunk covered his ears and shut his eyes as Shiro screamed. Pidge couldn’t look away, but water started to pool in her eyes.

Shiro doubled over and the Galra looked back at her, “His suffering will be the only result of your stubbornness. You will surrender yourself, or I will find out just how much pain the champion can take.”

The hologram vanished and Pidge turned towards the door, lightsaber in hand. “Pidge!” Coran called out and grabber her arm, “You can’t give yourselves up.”

“We need to save them. Shiro is being tortured and they have Lance and Keith. Not to mention Allura, Coran!”

The Altean grimaced, “I know, but charging into a fight won’t change that. This is a time when we need to be smart, Pidge. If that Galra was able to take Shiro and Allura down then we’ll need a solid plan if we’re going to beat him.”

“How?” Hunk asked. “He’s locked in the bridge with Shiro and Lance. If we try to fight him then we’re short on space and there’s always a chance that the second guy can use a blaster to kill them before we can do anything.”

Professor Huyang stepped forward, “Not necessarily, Hunk. This ship is equipped with a ventilation system big enough to slip through and take the Galra by surprise. Not to mention that you’re lightsabers are more than able to open a door into the bridge, but you will need to be careful. I suggest that the second Galra monitoring the ship’s mainframe be taken out first to lessen the threat.”

“Okay what about the droid’s Coran said they brought with them?”

Said Altean scoffed, “Those bucket heads are easier to knock out than a kladal’t on a quimlat’s hump! The only problem is I don’t know how we’re going to draw out the Galra from the bridge.”

Pidge looked around the room then to the door, and got an idea. A very Lance-like idea. Activating her green lightsaber Pidge smirked, “I know.”

She and Hunk snuck throughout the ship, attracting the attention of as many sentries as they could and taking them down to gain the Galra’s attention. Coran had been right, the droids were armed but not dangerous enough to be a major threat to the padawans. Pidge had struck back their blasts while Hunk maneuvered around them and cut them down easily. The Galra only knew about Pidge being on board, they didn’t know about Hunk or Coran or the professor, meaning they had the advantage of numbers.

They had left Coran and the professor with Rover in the control room. Once Pidge and Hunk dealt with the Galra who broke into the mainframe they could take back control of the ship and contact any Republic ships in the area.

Once they were closer to the bridge they opened the ventilation system and ducked inside, closing the gate above them and snuck through the ship.

“Where are Keith and Allura?” Hunk asked her.

“The Galra said that he has them prisoner, but they weren’t with Shiro and Lance. Professor Huyang said that a ray shield had been activated by the boarding doors, and that’s where Allura and Keith were last heard from. Think you can turn off the ray shield?”

“Yeah, but don’t you think the Galra are going to get angry once the ray shield is down? That Galra on the hologram said that he’ll keep hurting Shiro unless we turn ourselves over.”

“I know. While you’re freeing Allura and Keith, I’m going to distract the Galra hooked into the ship.”

“What?! Pidge,” Hunk quieted himself, “You can’t fight these guys alone. Shiro couldn’t even do that.”

“What choice do I have Hunk? We need to get these Galra off our ship one way or another, and we need to free Allura and Keith to do it. You’re better at engineering than I am and I’m small enough to get through the sentries and cause the Galra to check it out. We’re Jedi, not cadets anymore.”

Hunk, insecure but understanding, nodded and crawled by Pidge towards the boarding station. Pidge opened the gate above her and hopped out of the ventilation. Placing the gate back in place, she took out her lightsaber and activated it. Every sentry she came across she took down, cutting them to apart until she came across the bridge doors. She deactivated her lightsaber and wirelessly connected her wrist computer to the doors, making sure that the systems were set to lock at her command. The Galra wasn’t the only tech-junky on board.

She opened the ventilation gate and jumped down, just in time too as the door opened.

“Check the storage block for the Jedi,” she heard, “with the sentries dropping the Jedi is bound to be attempting a break in.”

Boots walked over her and the door closed. Once the Galra was far enough Pidge took out her comm unit, “Allura? Allura are you there?”

“Pidge? What are you doing? Coran told me you’re going to attack the Galra, where are you?!”

“I’m in the ventilation system. Listen. Coran, can you pull the ship away enough so when I open the boarding doors it creates an air vacuum? That’ll suck the Galra and the sentries off the ship.”

Allura was quiet for a moment, Coran speaking up through the comm unit, “That may work, Princess. The suction would be strong enough to send the Galra right out into space.”

“I realized but,” Allura’s voice, “Pidge you will need to be very, very careful. Galra are a dangerous and untrustworthy people so you must stay on your toes. Make sure you are secure when the doors open up.”

Pidge nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

She closed her comm link and followed after the Galra, using the Force to knock an object over down the hall. When the Galra turned to look down the hall she Forced off the gate top and jumped out, rolling and throwing the gate at the Galra. It hit him in the back and he cried out, Pidge already making her way towards the boarding dock. She heard the Galra chase after her, firing off a couple blaster shots as she rounded the corner and stopped in front of the door. Allura and Keith were nowhere around, neither was Hunk, which Pidge took as a good sign. The ship had started to move, pulling against the attached Galra vessel hard enough that Pidge could hear cracks forming in the connecting corridor.

“Don’t move, Jedi.”

The Galra had caught up to her, pointing his blaster at Pidge’s chest. She activated her lightsaber and took a defensive stance, eyeing the Galra. “Come and get me, purple ears.”

His eye twitched he took aim before shooting at her, Pidge rebounding the blast back at the Galra’s arm. She bolted forwards, slid under his legs, and reached out for the door lock. With a smile and a wave, she opened the boarding doors, took a deep breath and hung on for dear life. The door opened and all the air was sucked out of the room, the Galra soldier dragged to the opening between the ship’s boarding door and the Galra vessel. Pidge held her breath as she listened to the Galra cry out in panic before the silence, and pulled herself up enough to smash her fist on the button. She fell to the floor and caught her breath when her comm link went off.

“Y-yeah?” she breathed.

“Pidge! We just got the notice that the bay doors were opened and closed. Are you alright? What about the Galra?”

“I’m fine Coran. The Galra got sucked into space, so that’s one less problem on board. Do you know if Allura is okay?”

Pidge’s question was answered as Allura, Keith, and Hunk rounded the corner. Allura grabbed Pidge and pulled her into a hug, knocking the wind out of her.

“Never do that again,” Allura made her promise. “That was dangerous and suicidal… but it was the right choice, Pidge. You did good work.”

“Thanks. Now we just need to take care of the other Galra, come on.”

She lead them to the bridge and locked into the door control panel. Keith, Hunk, and Allura all had their lightsabers activated as Pidge made her way past the defences the Galra had set up and opened the door. Inside the bridge was Shiro and Lance, her fellow padawan unconscious and her master looking worse for wear. The Galra Pidge had seen over the hologram stood in the middle of the room with his back to them, and Allura sped forward to knock him in the back. She must have kicked him pretty hard because the Galra flew across the room and hit the wall, Allura right in front of him with her lightsaber over his head, “Surrender.”

Pidge heard the Galra laugh before he struck out at her master, knocking her back with his colossal arm. Keith attacked with Allura while Hunk and Pidge raced to Lance and Shiro.

“Shiro. Are you okay?” Stupid question, she knew, but Shiro opened his eyes and slowly looked behind her. His eyes widened and Pidge looked with him to see the Galra dodge Keith’s lightsaber and kick him in the chest. Keith rolled and stood back up until the Galra’s mechno-arm stretched out away from his body and nearly squashed Keith. The clawed fingers dug into the ship’s flooring and Pidge saw her chance. Activating her own green blade she burst forwards toward the purple energy connecting the Galra to his arm and struck at it.

The energy disappeared with a burst and the Galra yelled “No!” when Hunk rammed into his back and he flew face first into the wall. Allura placed her foot on his back and her lightsaber at the back of his neck, “I believe I told you to surrender, Sendak.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience everyone. Getting this out has been a big pain in the butt.  
> Please leave a comment! those things keep me motivated! If you have a question or anything, even an idea, feel free to leave it in the comments and I will get back to you on it!
> 
> Thanks!


	8. A Foot in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After capturing Sendak the Jedi return to Coruscant exhausted. Allura makes her report to the Council while her padawans rest and recover from their fight, while Shiro tries to get answers from the Galra Commander.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh gosh this took forever. I am sorry for updating so late. Writing this chapter was harder than I thought and I kept getting side tracked with other things but thanks for sticking around! you've earned this!
> 
> *edited to include vital information and Shiro getting some help from his fellow Master*

They had locked Sendak up in a cryopod for the trip back to Coruscant and handed him over to temple guards. Lance and Shiro had been given treatment, an hour in the bactatanks, but of the two Shiro seemed to be fairing better. While her fellow Knight and padawan was healing Allura had grounded the padawans to the temple, and gone to report the attack to the Council. Not all of the masters were present, many of them busy with the war, leaving only Masters Yoda, Windu, and Koon present for Allura’s debriefing.

Master Plo Koon shook his head, “It’s unlike the Galra to make such a direct attack on one of our starships.”

Allura hardly found it against Galra nature to attack an unarmed ship, but said nothing. Master Windu nodded and looked to her, “What was the name of the Galra commander who attack you and Shirogane?”

“Sendak, sir,” she frowned at the floor, “he was one of the Galra whom Shiro first met on their homeworld an is one of Zarkon’s commanding officers. We’ve handed him over to the temple guards and he is being held in the containment center.”

“Is he any danger?”

“Not without his mechno-arm. The appendage was severed by my padawan Pidge and with him locked in containment he poses no threat to the temple.”

“What of the padawan’s now?”

“They’ve had a long couple of days. I’ve sent them to get some rest. Shiro and I will teach them how to properly handle the lightsabers once we’re all well rested and healed.”

The masters nodded and Master Yoda said, “Dismissed you are, Knight Altea. Rest after this long mission you should.”

* * *

Sendak grinned when he saw the Jedi approaching his cage. It had been years since he last seen the little _apprentice_ , back before the Emperor’s reveal, back when the apprentice had been a youngling.

“It’s been a while, Shirogane,” he said.

The boy looked better than Sendak had last seen him, back in his black Jedi robes but with no blade hilt at his side. Sendak found it laughable how he still wore the darker tunic, so different from the other Jedi’s clothes as if he was just screaming out his true loyalty.

“I had hoped it would have been longer, Sendak.”

So, the boy still had mettle. Good.

“Why did you attack us? We had nothing of value on our ship so the Galra have no reason to attack a Jedi vessel. So, why did you attack my ship?”

Even after all these years the little apprentice was still so ignorant.

“Why do you think?” Sendak said to him. “I had received word that a certain _champion_ would be in the Raioballo sector escorting a sum of Kyber crystals. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to humiliate you.”

“You didn’t humiliate anyone. In case you haven’t noticed, Sendak, you’re trapped in this cell and surrounded by Jedi. The best you did was aggravate the Order.”

“Yes, you have me trapped but for how long, Shirogane? How long do you think this pathetic prison can hold a Galra commander? Could it hold even you? I recall not long ago we would spar and I would always be the one to come out on top.”

“That was a long time ago. If Haxus hadn’t threatened my padawan then-”

“Then what, Shirogane? You would have killed me like a true gladiator would?”

His eye twitched, Sendak noticed.

Shiro’s jaw tightened, “I’m not a gladiator. I am a Jedi Knight.”

“Last I saw that’s a lie.”

* * *

Hunk could sleep forever. When he had imagined the journey back from Dantooine it had involved some food, meditation, and lightsaber building. Not an invasion and the near death of his friends. The other padawans were just as exhausted, Pidge laying on his stomach with her glasses lopsided, Lance spread out on the floor, and Keith curled up in a ball on his bunk. It had been a long three days.

“I’d say we should go practice with our new lightsabers,” Pidge said, “but Hunk is too comfortable and I can’t move.”

Hunk patted her head.

Lance sat up and pulled on his braid, “Anyone else hungry? I feel like I could eat ten nerf sausages.”

“Mmm…” Hunk’s mouth watered just thinking about it, “buckwheat noodles.”

Pidge rolled off Hunk’s belly and onto the floor, “Do you think there’s hotcakes in the cafeteria?”

Hunk shrugged and followed Lance out of the quarters, Pidge smacking Keith on the leg to wake him up for food. In the hall they passed some masters, some smiling at the sight of the exhausted padawans, before running into Allura.

Lance, having almost literally running into her, smiled, “Hey Allura. How’d the meeting go?”

“It went well Lance. You’re corridors are the other way, if you’re all going to sleep.”

Keith, his eyes half closed, yawned, “Food first, then sleep.”

She smiled, “Of course. Have any of you seen where Shiro went?”

“Think he went downstairs somewhere.”

* * *

“You spent months fighting in that arena, Haggar made sure of it. How quickly did you revert back to your old self in the arena? You broke every rule the Jedi have and killed with pleasure.”

“I didn’t enjoy a second of it. It was cruel and inhumane. You pitted people against each other and forced them to fight to the death for your own entertainment!” He glared at Sendak with yellow venom in his eyes.

“Yet you took their lives anyway.”

The venom vanished, “I didn’t have a choice. If I didn't they-”

“Is it not the Jedi way to never needlessly kill? Did you forget that so quickly? Once you entered the arena you remember every lesson Zarkon taught you. He taught you every cruel detail there is and you put it to good use to take the lives of your opponents.”

“No. He… I didn’t mean to-”

Sendak laughed. It was too easy. A few words and the boy was breaking at his feet, denying every truth that Sendak said.

“How many did you kill in the arena? How many innocent lives have you taken in the name of the Empire? You were given that arm for a reason, Champion. A reason your Jedi masters fail to see.”

“Shut up,” Shiro snapped at him.

Sendak just smiled, “You know where your loyalties lie. You’re under the assumption that the Jedi have taken you back, but how could they after what you’ve done? How could they take back a monster like you? Face it, Shirogane, you’re just like me.”

“I’m not like you.”

He was quivering, Sendak could see his form shaking and he stared at the ground.

“You’re exactly like me. We both serve the emperor and our loyalties lie with his empire. Just look at your hand. It’s the strongest part of you and it was the empire that gave it to you. Embrace it,” Sendak grinned as Shirogane fell apart, holding his head between his hands and staring at the floor, “the Jedi don’t know what you know. You’re precious padawans haven’t seen what you’ve seen. Face it, you can’t win. Zarkon has already won this war. The Jedi will die by either his or your own hand and he will take control of the galaxy. You can’t stop him, you can only join him as you did those years ago.”

“Stop it!” Shirogane jolted and stood tall, his eyes blazing yellow and his arm outstretched. An invisible grip took Sendak’s neck and he was lifted up, floating in the air as his breath hitched.

Perhaps he pushed it too far, but at this point Sendak really couldn’t care less. The boy was broken, no Jedi could fix that, and it would only be a matter of time before the Empire destroyed this damned planet. So Sendak grinned and spoke the truth about the boy killing him, “Traitor.”

* * *

Allura found him in the one place she hoped she wouldn’t. He was on his knees in front of the cell, Sendak’s lifeless body sprawled in the floor, and she could sense the turmoil inside Shiro.

“Takashi,” she crouched next to him and putting her hand on his shoulder. “Shiro, what happened?”

Shiro shook his head, “I-I had to stop him. He was too dangerous… He couldn’t be in the temple.”

Allura looked at him, closely. Shiro was sweaty, his breathing was off, his irises had shrunken. If she hadn’t known better Allura would have thought he was sick, not having suffered a panic attack. It wasn’t unexpected, Shiro had been through so much that it would have taken a miracle for him to come away without any marks. Mental or physical. She knew he wasn’t sleeping as often as he should, relying instead on mediation, and he was seeking some help from Master Yoda about his past year. It would be a slow and painful process, but hopefully Shiro would live through it.

She moved him to his feet, keeping her arm around him and her hand in his, “Let’s get you into some hot water.”

Shiro seemed to catch his breath, “What about Sendak? Allura, he was our only link to Zarkon and I-”

“I will speak to the Masters. Right now you need to get some rest.”

She lead him to his bed chambers and ignored his quiet mutterings as best she could until he was safely in his room. Once Shiro had calmed down and agreed to rest as best he could, Allura made her way to the High Council chamber to report Sendak's death. They were not going to be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing panic attacks is hard, especially from a sadistic pov. Sendak didn't last too long in the show, so we didn't get to know his character very much so this was interesting to write. Also KUDOS TO Naruwitch945 for catching my hints so early on, I love you buddy.  
> Please leave a comment!  
> *Edits: made some slight changes to better set future plot*


	9. Bounty Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Jedi receive a distress beacon that leads to a very distressing situation. Especially for Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short. I just wanted to get it out there so you guys didn't feel like I'd gone AWOL all of a sudden. More chapters are coming, featuring a fan favourite! stay tuned!

You know, in retrospect, Lance really should have known better. He’d been training for months with the best masters the Jedi could offer; they taught him so much he should have seen it coming. He could hear Allura reprimanding him for his carelessness, the disappointed look on Shiro’s face. Not to mention the others would never let him live this down but it wasn’t his fault! He didn’t zap himself and carry him onto a ship, he’d only been trying to impress a beautiful alien girl without the disapproving eyes of his masters on him.

How was he supposed to know that the “stranded refugees” were bounty hunters? How was he supposed to know they would taser and kidnap him?

Beezer, the little droid following the bounty hunters, had taken his lightsaber. Rolo and Nyma, said bounty hunters, had cuffed his hands and attached him to a pipe line at the back of the ship. Lance had already tried to mind trick them, it obviously hadn’t worked, and now he was being shipped to Force knows where!

“Come on Nyma,” he smiled, “you gotta let me go. What about all that cool Jedi stuff I showed you?”

Nyma looked back at him, “Sorry Lance, but you’re not getting out of here.” She looked back to Rolo, “Are we connected?”

“Yeah,” Rolo turned to the holograph, “Commander Prorok, my name is Rolo. I understand you’re offering a reward to anyone who's captured a padawan of Shirogane?”

The Galra commander nodded, “That’s correct. Am I to assume you have one of them?”

“Yeah, the blue sword one. He’s here in my ship.”

“Excellent. Bring him to me and you’ll have your reward immediately.”

“Just a tick,” Rolo said. “My friends and I have a bit of a checkered past. Some stolen merchandise from the Galra Empire may have fallen into our possession without us knowing about it.”

The commander seemed to glare, “Well I’m sure that a full pardon can be arranged for the capture of the Champion’s student. Is that all?”

“We’ll take the reward, too,” Nyma told him.

“Of course.”

Rolo turned to the control panel, “Alright, we’re on our way.”

The hologram shut off and Lance’s stomach dropped. They were going to turn him over to the Galra. He’d never see his family again, never see Pidge or Hunk or even Keith. The Galra would probably kill him!

Rolo cracked his fingers and looked back at him, “I almost feel sorry for this. Your master seemed like a nice guy.”

“If you’re feeling sorry you can turn yourself in,” Nyma told him, a cross look on her face. “Stealing from Zarkon carries a life sentence.”

His kidnapper took her seat as Rolo muttered “Maybe not that nice”. Lance watched them fiddle around the ship’s controls, probably preparing to make a jump. Lance couldn’t have that, he was a Jedi for crying out loud! He couldn’t let these guys kidnap him without at least putting up a fight first. Beezer may have his lightsaber, but he still had the Force.

Lance concentrated on the control panel. This type of ship wasn’t as big as the one Allura had, so it’s hyperdrive control was more compact; just three levers on the panel. If Rolo or Nyma pulled those down at once then Lance was a goner. So he used the Force, and pushed Beezer into Rolo’s chair.

Beezer hit with enough force to knock Rolo forward, “What the-?!” Rolo looked behind him at Beezer before looking at Lance with a glare. Lance played innocent. The second Rolo looked away Lance threw Beezer into Nyma’s chair. The droid beeped at him angrily as Nyma glared at him, “Knock it off, kid.”

“Hell no,” Lance answered and Force pulled Beezer back into Rolo’s chair.

Nyma got off her chair, “Just cut it out. You lost already.”

“That’s just what I want you to think.”

Lance looked at Nyma’s belt. Hanging there was the key to the cuffs on his wrists. If he could get that he could free himself and stop Rolo and Nyma long enough for Shiro to find him.

* * *

 

“I knew it! Uh, I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning! I mean at first it was just like a feeling in my gut, ya know, but when I was replacing that thermal pipe, the pipe was cracked, but none of the hardware around it was damaged.”

“Okay, we get it.”

“I mean if the thermal pipe is cracked, then, obviously, hello, the entire assembly should be totally roasted.”

“Okay! We get it.”

“We should have had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So, right then, I was, like, positive. Foul play.”

“Okay we get it!”

The ship blasted through space after the bounty hunters; Shiro at the helm with Pidge while Keith and Hunk manned the blasters. When Lance had gone off with Nyma to show her the skills he had as a Jedi, Shiro had been cautious but not assertive enough to forbid it. It had been stupid, he knew, to let his padawan go off by himself with a stranger. Shiro’s foolishness got Lance kidnapped; Shiro swore it wouldn’t happen again.

“Ship on our right,” Pidge reported.

Shiro nodded and steered the ship, relief washing over him as he recognized Rolo and Nyma’s starship.

“Hunk, Keith,” he spoke to the earpiece, “make sure you aim for the hyperdrive. I don’t want them slipping into lightspeed with Lance on board.”

The two padawans did just that, taking out the ship’s hyperdrive while Shiro drove the ship through an asteroid field, dodging and rolling over asteroids like an expert. With a lucky shot from Keith they managed to take out one of Rolo’s engines, the hunter’s ship cruising to a stop. They towed the bounty hunters back to the moon they had taken off from and moved them out onto a rock, Shiro cuffing them and taking back Lance’s lightsaber.

“Since your ship  _ really _ doesn’t work now,” Keith said to them, “We’re going to be taking you to Coruscant and handing you over to the police.”

Rolo looked at Shiro, “Thanks for sparing our lives. You may not believe this, but I hope you do stop Zarkon. Since the war started it’s felt like a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me to where I am today.”

Shiro stayed still for a moment, “I forgive you for kidnapping my padawan, but I’m still going to have to arrest you. You’ll be safer from the Galra on Coruscant. With some luck and hard work you might even get out early.”


	10. Balmera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Jedi receive word that the Separatists have began to mine one of the galaxies Balmeras, and it's up to Hunk, his fellow padawans, his masters, and Shay to save the Balmera from the invading Galra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate writers block. I had to rewrite this three times because I didn't like how it sounded or the information I was giving so soon. Sorry for the wait!

In the months following Dantooine the padawans had come far. They practiced delving into the Force and mastered the basics of lightsaber wielding to the point they were able to take on their own styles. It was interesting to see their padawans develop their own techniques and styles, all so vastly different from Shiro and Allura’s own styles. Hunk seemed to have a love of the  _ soresu _ style-form, deflecting blasts back away from himself and his teammates. Lance stuck to the old  _ shii-cho _ style, adding his own flare to the simplistic fighting style. Pidge took to  _ makashi _ , and while the style wasn’t best fit for the current era of blasters and ranged weaponry, Pidge made up for it with her accuracy and detail in duels. Keith had taken a liking to  _ ataru _ , using his agility to its advantage in fights.

On off days when the masters were meeting with the Council, the padawans were left to train on their own. They sat outside on the balconies, the padawans deep in their own meditation while their masters reported to the High Council about the war. Their concentrations varied, Keith and Lance focusing in on the Force while Pidge searched through the Force for any feeling of her family. Hunk’s concentration differed from his friends. He tried focusing in on the Force but for some reason he kept feeling an urge of panic and sadness. From where the feeling was coming from he didn’t know, but it continued to bother him. It felt afraid, close to terror of something Hunk couldn’t identify through the Force alone, but it felt… Evil.

Hunk opened his eyes and fell back into reality. Just in time too as Shiro and Allura, and another Jedi, walked onto the balcony.

“Padawans,” Allura started, “We have been given a mission by the Council. We will to travel to the Outer Rim and provide aid to the galaxies Balmera. Joining us will be my old padawan, Shay.”

The reptilian girl next to Allura bowed in greeting. The warm, welcoming feeling coming from her cause Hunk to perk up instantly.

Lance held up his hand, “Uh, what’s a balmera?”

“They are planet sized, petrified creature in the outer rim of the galaxy,” explained Allura. “Inhabiting them are the Balmerans, Shay’s people, and Balmera are known to produced crystals capable of powering spacecrafts and other such devices. This ability has not gone unnoticed by the Separatists.”

Shay’s face fell, “This is true. My people are taken hostage by the Galra who force them to excavate crystals from Balmera. The taking of Balmera’s crystals slowly kills it.”

Shiro put a hand on Shay’s shoulder before looking to his padawans, “Altean people will sometimes exchange a Balmera’s crystal for their quintessence. Giving the Balmera some of your own quintessence, your own life energy, will allow the Balmera to remain whole and the crystal to rejuvenate over time. But the Galra are skipping the transference, they are simply taking the crystals without giving anything back to the Balmera,” Shiro’s face hardened, “so it will be our job to rid it of Galra activity.”

They boarded a ship after that. Shay joined them, along with Coran, in the control room to set the navigation. Hunk sat quietly in the back of the bridge, his thoughts on the fear he had felt through the Force. Now that he knew Shay’s people were in trouble it made sense that he would feel their dismay and sorrow. An entire planet, or planet-sized alien, under attack would give off a strong enough for terror that any Jedi would be able to feel it.

“What’s it like on Balmera?” he asked Shay.

She smiled sadly, “It is home. My people and I live with Balmera, who provides us with foodstuffs and a home. It is peaceful there, with no such battle as the Republic’s Clone War in our history.”

“Sounds like a paradise… I’m sorry the Galra dragged you into this.”

“Fret not, Hunk,” Shay put her hand on his shoulder, “Balmera and my kin are resourceful and strong. If the Galra are indeed after Balmera’s crystals than they will not harm its people, who are the only ones that can harvest Balmera’s crystals. We will prevail.”

Keith grumbled from the corner, “You make it sound so easy.”

“Now please, tell me about your adventures thus far with Master Allura.”

Hunk blinked at Shay, “You know Allura?”

“Yes. She was my master prior to yours, and I am most eager to hear of the training you undergo with her and Knight Shirogane. The rumors around the Jedi about you are all so different it is hard to tell which are true and which are false.”

Hunk could see that. It wasn’t exactly standard Jedi code for two Knights to take on four padawans at once. But they had a few hours to kill before entering outer rim territory, so Hunk humored Shay and told her about the time Allura and Shiro had gotten drunk off a think called nunvill. Lance joined in by telling Shay about the one undercover mission they had to go on with Coran, in which Keith was forced to wear a scruffy tuxedo. Keith retaliated by telling Shay about the time Lance tried to hit on a girl and was dragged away by his ear by Shiro. The stories turned into a series of arguments between to two boys, Pidge jumping in now and then to confirm or deny details, Shay smiling and laughing along.

It was nice.

Shiro stepped into the room. “We’re here,” Allura followed in after him, “The Galra have already set up mining facilities around massive holes dug through the Balmera that go deep into its body.” Shay’s face crumbled. “Once we’re on the Balmera we’re going to split into teams to divide the Galra’s attention. Most of us will be infiltrating the Galra central command while the rest will go with Shay to find her people. Lance, Pidge, Keith, you’ll be infiltrating the command center with me while Hunk goes with Shay, Allura, and Coran.”

Something about that sentence made Hunk pause, “Uh, why is Coran coming? Won’t there be Galra down there that will endanger the senator? Also who the heck is going to be landing this thing if Coran comes along with us? Won’t the Galra get suspicious about why there’s a Republic ship suddenly near their mining facility and, I don’t know, send a fleet after us?”

“Then it is a good thing this vessel isn’t a Republic ship,” Allura said. “This ship comes with a cloaking mechanism from Altea, one of the finest in the galaxy, and it will be left on as we free the Balmerans from the Galra.”

“Okay, but isn’t it still really dangerous to bring a senator? Like, I mean, won’t Altea get mad if we put their senator in a life threatening situation?”

“You needn't worry Hunk. Alteans are a very strong race. Coran is more than capable of defending himself,” she smiled, while Shiro frowned and shivered. That only raised more questions that Hunk never got to ask, the ship beginning to descend. Coran, with the cloaking device at full power, steered the ship as close as he could to the main command center. As the door opened Hunk got a full view of the Balmera. Aside from the Galra space crafts the land was a warm beige colour, spires of rock forming steep mountains and hills. The formations reminded him of waves, only made of rock and motionless. Shiro flipped up the hood of his poncho.

“Keep your hoods up and your lightsabers covered. We don’t want the Galra knowing who they’re up against,” he instructed. Lance, Keith, and Pidge nodded and pulled up their hoods, then followed Shiro out of the ship with a jump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've really gotten into the Star Wars database and spent nearly two days deciding who used what style of lightsaber combat. I think I matched them up pretty well, comparing how they fight in the show to some Jedi techniques. This will probably be a 3 or 4 parter.
> 
> Comment and subscribe! I need the feedback


	11. Balmera pt2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has split into two groups: Shiro for infiltration and Allura for recovery and rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the amazing comments! They mean so much to me! This chapter is a bit short, but the next one will have a bombardment of characters! PLUS MORE SHAY!!!!!! god I love her

It wasn’t that Hunk was worried about them. Being a Jedi came with risks, especially during war times. They’d been on battlefields and fought off droids, they’d risked their lives for the Republic before, why would this time be any different? Yet Hunk couldn’t help but worry for his friends.

They had never been on a Balmera before. How were they supposed to know what was safe to touch? Allura said the Balmera was alive, what if they hurt it? Hunk was carrying a lightsaber for frag sake! These things were known to cut through blast doors what would it do to some poor Balmera?!

“Hunk,” Allura snapped him back to reality, “We’re setting down just beyond Shay’s colony. Remember to keep your lightsaber hidden and your poncho over yourself. Until we find Shay’s family we need to keep a low profile. The Galra cannot discover us. Understood?”

He nodded, “Yeah, understood.”

The ship set down beneath an overhang large enough to hide the ship from passing scouts, and Hunk pulled the poncho onto his shoulders. Allura and Coran put on similar garments, Shay the only Jedi not clothed in a poncho. She wore a simple tunic with a belt at her waist, her lightsaber hidden from sight.

“We must must make haste,” she said. “I shall contact the others through Balmera, for them to meet with us.”

Shay lead Hunk and the Alteans out onto the Balmera’s surface and to the wall of the overhang, Shay placing her hand on the rock and closing her eyes. Hunk didn’t know what she was doing or how she planned to contact someone by touching a rock, but the stone beneath Shay’s hand began to glow blue, “What the-?”

“It’s an ability few creatures possess,” Allura explained. “Balmerans are able to communicate with and through the Balmera by their quintessence.”

Shay’s hand dropped and she looked to Allura, “My kin have agreed to the meeting of us. Come.”

She lead them to one of the many massive holes dug into the Balmera, mining structures and equipment scattered around the crater. Shay stopped at the edge of the crater and pointed down, “Here. The Galra have dug into Balmera’s caverns in search of more crystals, pushing my people deep beneath Balmera’s surface.”

Her face crumbled, and Hunk didn’t need to use the Force to tell Shay was heartbroken. Her home was being attacked, her people were being forced to work against their will. Hunk didn’t even want to think about what the Galra would bring to Coruscant. He was just about to reassure Shay that everything was going to be alright, when Coran said, “Alright. All descending Jedi hop aboard now!”

Hunk had no idea what prompted that sentence until he turned around. Coran had hijacked one of the nearby hovercarts, a few barrels of dirt strapped in the trunk, big enough to carry all of them. They hopped on and Coran piloted the hovercraft down into the hole at an angle that made Hunk want to scream. After descending down to the hole’s end, Hunk was the first one out of the hovercraft. “Alright remind me to never, ever again let Coran drive.”

“Wasn’t that bad, was it? Got us down here at a fast pace.”

“You do know hovercrafts are three dimensional, right? We could have just normally hovered down here.”

Coran shrugged, “The deed is done. No need to worry about it anymore, Number Four.”

Ignoring the boys, Shay raced towards the closest cavern, “We must make haste! A patrol droid is descending the crater.”

They ran to the cavern, Shay guiding them through the Balmera until she was sure the patrol couldn’t find them. Allura looked back at the cavern entrance, “How could the Galra have set up so much equipment in such a short time?”

“Maybe they’ve been here longer than the council thought?” Hunk offered. “I mean if the Republic just got a distress message from here, than a Balmeran would have had some way of contacting the Republic without getting caught by the Galra.”

Shay stared at him, “My people would not have had the technology to contact Republic services. We can connect with each other through Balmera, but cannot contact outside of Balmera.”

“The Galra do. They have long distance comm. units built into their command ship.”

Allura and Coran both nodded. “That is true,” Coran said. “In order to report the progress being made on the Balmera, the Galra would have to be constantly sending updated information to their superiors. However if a Balmeran were to send out a distress signal to the Republic, they would need to sneak on board the Galra ship. That alone is almost impossible for a Balmeran unless…”

Coran trailed off, his expression growing dimmer as he turned away from Shay. The Balmeran Jedi herself looked horrified.

Allura placed a hand on Shay’s shoulder, “If there are any Balmeran prisoners aboard that ship, Shay, I am positive Shiro and the others will do everything in their power to free them.”

* * *

Avoiding the Galra patrols had been easy. Sneaking into the Galra command center had been a tad more difficult, especially when Lance and Keith kept sniping at each other. Lucky for them they had lightsabers on them, so any droid and sentry they came across didn’t live to report the tale.

Shiro lead them through the base with surprising ease. Pidge was extremely impressed with her master; Shiro took out sentries and droids before they even saw him. She couldn’t tell if he could sense them through the Force, or if it was just his experience kicking in.

Halfway to the command center, Pidge felt something. It touched on her brain, making her instinctively turn to where she felt it. Pidge knew that feeling, it was the same feeling she got from any Jedi; one of the first things she learned to recognize, “Shiro.”

Her master looked to her, “What is it Pidge?”

“I… I think we need to check for prisoners. I think I felt something alive down there,” she pointed to the left hallway.

“Are you sure?”

Pidge reached out for the feeling. In her head it sounded like a drum being hit, a heartbeat. “Yes. There is definitely someone here.”

Shiro looked back to where Pidge was pointing. He knew that the prisoner quarters would be a level below, away from the bridge they were targeting. The main point was to take out the command ship, thereby taking down every sentry and patrol droid, but if there were prisoners…

“Alright,” he started, “You, Lance, and Keith look for prisoners. Follow the hall until you reach the elevator. One floor down in the prisoner cells. If you find anyone, report back to me.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Keith eyed him, a feeling not unlike anxiety flowing from his Force signature.

Shiro loved the kids, really he did, and he knew what they were capable of. They didn’t need him for something like a prison break. “I’m going to take down the sentry control and hold the bridge. I’m trusting you three to free any Balmeran’s being held prisoner on this ship.”

They nodded and took off down the hall, Shiro breaking for the control room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leaving off there with a sneak peak at Shiro's team. Who could the Balmeran be I wonder???
> 
> Also I'm thinking about doing a side-story about Allura and Shiro's days as padawans. All the fun they got into and the backstory for everyone's favourite Space Dad and Princess Kick-Ass! Leave a comment on if you would like to know more about their backstory ;)


	12. Balmera pt3

The three padawans found the prisoner cells with ease. Following the life signature Pidge had picked up on (she was surprisingly good at that) and taking down the Galra sentries guarding the cells left them alone in the cell hall.

“So, which one has the prisoner?” Lance asked, mentally counting out how many cells there were (too many).

Pidge faltered. She had no idea which cell held the prisoner she sensed. For all they knew they were all occupied. “Give me a tick.”

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Force signature. It wasn’t strong enough to be a Jedi’s, but it was strong enough that Pidge could track it. Like a blip on her mental radar. Concentrating on the signature, Pidge started moving down the hall. She wasn’t sensing any life force from those cells, and the signature she felt seemed to get stronger the farther down she walked. Pidge walked until the blip felt like it was coming from directly beside her. Cell X-95.

“This one,” she took out her lightsaber and began carving a door in the metal.

* * *

Shay lead them through the bowels of the Balmera. To Hunk it felt almost like they were going exploring, spelunking in the deep caves of Korvx-V as opposed to the inside of a giant petrified alien. In any other situation Hunk may have taken the time to ask Shay more about the Balmera, like how her people lived here did they live on or in the Balmera? What did they eat, could the Balmera produce food or did they grow things on it or-?

Hunk put those questions away. For now, he had to focus on getting rid of the Galra sentries and droids marching through the caves. Following Shay they came across a small platoon, no more than ten sentries, all of which Allura threw back with a push from the Force. Coran got to work shooting the droids from afar, Hunk guarding him and sending blasts back to where they came from while Shay bounced from sentry to sentry, slicing through them like butter with her blue lightsaber. She didn’t fight like Allura did, her motions not as fluid or forethought as Hunk would have expected from someone who was taught by Allura. The didn’t make her any less dangerous or any more amazing to watch.

To Hunk it looked very much like the style of fighting Lance favoured, _shii-cho_. She used her build to her advantage, knocking sentries back and slashing at them while they were stunned. It was like she was a ballerina with a lightsaber. It was...really pretty.

“This way,” she lead them past the ruined droids and deeper into the cave. Hunk followed after her, watching his step, when he ran into Shay.

“Sorry,” he apologised quietly. Shay didn’t seem to hear him, her attention focused on the room before her. Inside there were more Balmerans. Judging from the horn’s there were two females and a male Balmeran. Hunk was about to ask if Shay knew them, when she surged forward and pulled the male into a hug.

Hunk side eyed Allura, “Um, do they know each other?”

“They’re Shay’s family,” Allura told him. “Her mother, father, and grandmother.”

Oh. Ohhh…

Hunk suddenly felt like he was intruding, “Should we give them some privacy or…?”

Allura walked forward, “Shiree, Dius, Cambri. It has been a while.”

Shay’s family looked at Allura, smiles on their faces. “Master Allura,” the elder Balmeran, Shay’s grandmother Hunk assumed, took Allura’s hand. “You grace us with your presence once again, Jedi. As well as your companion.”

Hunk smiled awkwardly, “It’s uh...great to grace you, I guess. I’m Hunk. Allura’s padawan.”

Shay’s father looked at her, “You are no longer Master Allura’s padawan?”

“Not for some quintents,” Shay blushed, “I have become a Jedi Knight. Apologies, for not informing you under better circumstances.”

Shay’s mother shook her head, “There is no need to apologise, Shay. We are proud of you.”

The blush on Shay’s cheeks grew adorably, and she looked around before turning to her family, “We are here to free Balmera from the Galra invasion. Knight Shirogane is up top with Hunk’s fellow padawans, while Master Allura, Hunk, and I came to make sure you and the others are well. Tell me, please, where Rax is.”

Hunk felt the joy from Shay’s family shift to melancholy, sadness billowing from Shay’s mother. Shay felt it too. “Please, tell me where my brother is. Mother. Father. I must know!”

“Shay,” her father pressed his hand to Shay’s shoulder, “Rax had sent the distress to the Republic, and for that he was taken by the Galra aboard their ship. We have not seen him since.”

Dread erupted on Shay’s face, and she back away from her family with her head down. “I should not have left,” she muttered. Hunk put his hand on her back, a small comfort.

“I’ll contact Shiro and the others. If Rax is onboard that cruiser, they will find him,” Allura tapped on her earring, “Shiro, Lance, anyone? This is Allura.”

* * *

Shiro ignored his com. unit and continued making his way to the bridge. Ignoring the deja vu he quickly took out the sentries blocking his way, either with his lightsaber or Galra hand, until he found the doors to the control room. Not bothering with the lock pad, Shiro readied his lightsaber, purple and black sparks flying off as he carved an opening in the blast doors.

It bothered him, being back on a Galra ship. Hell, for the last three years anything Galra bothered him, mentally and physically. Before the betrayal he had been so comfortable on ships like this; before everything went to hell, before his imprisonment. Had things happened differently the Galra might have been on the Republic’s side of the war, backing up the Senate and clones on the front instead of commanding the Separatists droids. Shiro supposed it was his fault. He hadn’t been able to stop the betrayal when he had the chance and for that failure the whole galaxy was paying the price.

The metal sheeting gave in, falling over into the bridge and Shiro Force pushed the nearest sentry into the first Galra he saw. He ricocheted blasts back, taking three more sentries down in the process. The Galra commanding the ship, having pushing himself up from beneath the sentry Shiro threw at him, was staring at the dead droids, shock plastered on his grey face as Shiro stepped towards him.

“Shut down the mining facility.”

Shiro had to give the captain credit, he was putting on a brave face. “Y-you think you’ve won, Jedi? My death won’t change the war. Emperor Zarkon will take what belongs to him!”

“If Zarkon wants the Republic gone then he’ll have to go through me. You are under arrest, and this Balmera is under the protection of the Galactic Republic.”

The Galra sneered, “There is a Separatist fleet on it’s way to secure this station. A couple Jedi won’t be enough to hold off a fleet. You’ll be dead soon enough traitor!”

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing the Republic is sending its own fleet to back us up,” Shiro looked the Galra in the eyes and raised his lightsaber to the captain’s neck, “So I won’t ask again. Shut down the mining facility, shut off the sentry controls, and order any Galra on the Balerma to turn themselves over to the Republic.”

The captain’s lip was quivering as he said, “N-never! Glory to the Galra Empire! Down with the Republic! Emperor Zarkon shall have what is his!”

...Obviously this was going nowhere, so Shiro would have to change his approach. He focused on what he wanted the Galra to do, and pushed his own will into the Force, “You will surrender.”

“N-n...I…” the captain’s eyes dilated, “I will surrender.”

“You will shut down the sentry control.”

“I will shut down the sentry controls.”

“All the soldiers must surrender.”

“All the soldiers must surrender,” and he walked to the controls. Shiro watched him shut down the power station and droid controls, then order a complete surrender over the intercom.

* * *

Pidge hadn’t met many Balmerans, but from the way this one was acting she didn’t think she wanted to.

According to Rax he was the only Balmeran onboard, taken prisoner when he tried to fight against the Galra invasion. He was the one who sent the call to the Republic, calling for clone troopers to aid the Balmera. He wasn’t happy that there weren’t any clones.

“I had hoped for trained soldiers, not children in cloaks,” he had said distastefully.

Now they were making their way back to meet Shiro at the control room. Lance taking upon himself to defend their honor, “We’re not children. We’re Jedi! We have lightsabers and everything!”

“It matters not. Three younglings will not be enough to rid Balmera of the Galra.”

Even Keith was getting annoyed, “We came here with our masters, plus Jedi Knight Shay. She’s from here.”

Rax frowned, “You are speaking lies. Shay is away with the Jedi Allura, far from Balmera.”

“No she’s not. Shay’s a Jedi Knight and she came here with us. Allura’s here too.”

“Why should I trust your words?”

“Dude!” Lance gawked. “We just finished shaving your butt and you’re doubting us? Who does that to their saviour?”

Pidge didn’t bother listening to Rax’s remark, her attention caught on the comm. unit in her pocket, “ _Padawans? Shiro? Answer me if you can.”_

“Allura?” Pidge pulled out the device. “We read you, Master.”

_“Pidge, have you made it aboard the Galra ship?”_

“Yeah. Shiro went to secure the bridge. Is something wrong?”

“Tell her about the cranky Balmeran we found here,” Lance barked over her shoulder, “Put Shay on so we can prove to this guy she’s here.”

Rax took the comm. from Pidge, “Jedi Allura, is it true that my sister Shay is on Balmera?”

_“Rax?”_ Shay’s voice sounded. _“Rax! Mother and Father had informed me you were prisoner. How is it you are not?”_

“The children sent by the Jedi freed me from my containment. You must leave Balmera Shay! Galra have sent word to their army and a fleet is arriving to imprison Balmera once again. You must leave!”

A new voice sounded from the comm. _“I wouldn’t agree with that Rax. The Galra in charge of this station just sent word that everything is under control. The only fleet coming to Balmera is a Republic one.”_

Pidge’s eyebrow raised, “How the heck did you manage that Shiro?”

_“I’ll teach it to you one day. Jedi can be very persuasive when they want to be. Allura, the sentry controls are deactivated. Tell Shay’s family that the Balmerans are free to go to the surface.”_

_“We’ll meet you there Shiro.”_

* * *

Shiro hadn’t been kidding, the sentries really were all powered down. They littered the surface like garbage, the once operative mining facility now a dead spot on the Balmera. The Republic fleet had arrived by now, hovering high in the sky while a single shuttle parked on the surface just beyond the hole Hunk met his friends at.

Seeing Shay be reunited with her brother gave Hunk a warm feeling in his heart. An even warmer feeling seeing his friends who were a hundred percent fine. He held onto Pidge’s tiny frame with all his might the second he was done with Keith and Lance.

“Hunk-” she mumbled from his shoulder, “it’s been like, a few hours at most. Please let go.”

He put her down and wiped the tears from his eyes, “Oh man, you guys have no idea how worried I was. I mean, like, I was inside the Balmera and of course there were droids in there but it wasn’t the whole mothership and I had no idea you split up! Like, if I had been there it would have been okay cause I could have helped but I had to help Shay and, oh holy quiznak you guys should see her fight! Lance! She fights like you do but Shay did this really cool move where she grabbed a sentry-”

“Hunk,” Shay herself interrupted. “I wanted to thank you and your comrades. If it hadn’t been for you and Master Allura and Master Shirogane Balmera would certainly have been lost to the Galra. Thank you.”

Hunk felt his face heat up, and he smiled back at Shay, “You’re welcome Shay. Honestly it was an honor to get to work with you.”

Pidge elbowed him in the gut and Keith looked to Shay, “We’re happy to help, Shay.”

Hunk, catching his breath and also catching Allura looking at him with a raised eyebrow, smiled as best he could, “So, uh, what’s going to happen to the Balmera now? What if the Galra come back?”

“Then they will be met with a fleet of Republic ships,” Allura said. “The Senate won’t allow for the Galra to take anymore of its crystals.”

That was good to hear. Shay’s home would be safe but that meant he and the others would have to return to the clone war grounds. It meant that Hunk wouldn’t get to see Shay anymore. No it wasn’t like he like liked her, Jedi weren’t supposed to act on attachment, Hunk just liked her as a really cool rock girl.

Shiro walked over from his conversation with the clone captain, “Shay, the council wants you here to oversee the Balmera’s safety throughout the war. The rest of you, we’ve been reassigned.”

“That didn’t take very long,” commented Keith.

Shiro’s look was empathetic, “That’s how war works, kiddo. We’re going back to Coruscant for now.”

“And the Galra?”

“Fives is taking him back to Coruscant with us. He’ll be put in the judiciary central detention center until further notice.”

Good. For what the Galra had done to Shay’s home he deserved to be in jail. But that still left something out.

“What about the factory here and all the deactivated droids?” he asked. Hunk didn’t want to just leave the Balmera looking like this. There had to be something the Republic could do, right?

Shiro looked back to the clones and the Balmerans, “The Republic will do what it can to help clean up the Galra mess. It’ll take a while though, Hunk. We can’t exactly stop the war to clean up the factory.” Hunk’s heart sunk a bit and he looked down. It wasn’t unexpected, he guessed. The Republic was at war, they didn’t have the time or the ability to clean the Balmera up instantly. A hand fell on Hunk’s shoulder and he looked up at Shiro, “Be patient, padawan. Everything takes time.”

They said their goodbyes to Shay and her family after that (Hunk tearing up again as he boarded the shuttle). The padawans practically fell into the bunks at the back of the cruiser, exhaustion from the adventure finally catching up with them. Lance was out like a light, Keith drooling in his sleep, Pidge’s eyes half open as she stared at the datapad in her drooping hands, and Hunk, falling asleep in the hopes that he would get to see Shay again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my god this took forever and I'm sorry but writers block and new things took my time away from this. I've been writing a DND campaign for some friends of mine and my ridiculous brain has been going crazy. Next chapter tho? OHHHMAN do I have plans for that! You guys should go read me other star wars/voltron stories too. I'm having way too much fun with kid Shiro, check it out if you want!


	13. Inner Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro has a well over due talk with Master Yoda. The experience does not go as well as hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many feelings about Shiro's year as a slave/gladiator. Honestly I hope we get an episode that addresses Shiro's PTSD and PTA because he needs help guys. This chapter is late because of school and work kicking my ass, and my writer's block stopping me from picking the next chapter to write.

It had started a few days after his return to the Order. Allura and Coran would take the padawans on a training exercise, while Shiro met with Master Yoda in the Meditation Chapel.

Shiro had thought it wasn’t necessary, he was more than capable of handling this on his own. Yet after his report to the Council, nearly every master had _suggested_ that he speak with Master Yoda about the trauma. So there he was, sitting on the comforted stool in front of Master Yoda, really not wanting to talk about his past year.

Yoda was watching him, a smile on his face, “Find this unnecessary, do you?”

Shiro took a breath, “Master, there’s a war going on. I should be out there with the other Jedi helping the Republic fight. Sitting around to talk about my year with the Galra… It shouldn’t be a priority.”

Yoda’s smile faded, “Believe this, do you? Hmm… I believe a special case, you are.”

“Master I’m not a special case. I’m not the only person who’s suffered under the Galra.”

“Know that, I do. Yet you are the one closest to me that I can help. Meditate with me. Share with me your pain.”

He really did not want to. Shiro had always had trouble with meditation, but with the added hell from the last year… From the few memories he had of it all, Shiro would prefer to forget about it all over again. He didn’t want to show Yoda what he had seen, what he had been forced through. Shiro didn’t want the pity from the master. He did not want to feel the terror he got from his nightmares.

“Scare, you are, of these memories?”

Of course Grand Master Yoda would feel that. _Control yourself_.

“Yes Master.”

Yoda had his eyes closed, his focus on Shiro through the Force. A frown formed on the master’s lips, “Great fear you have, of them. Pain, anguish, suffering you have faced. Share with me your pain, Shirogane. Help you bare the burden I will.”

It was no point in trying to hide anymore. Yoda had the patience of a mountain, and he would sit there with Shiro until his request was fulfilled. So, Shiro closed his eyes, sat in the lotus position, and opened his mind.

The first thing to surface was the one that started it all. Matthew and Samuel Holt and he had been captured, Shiro doing his best to keep the pair of Republic scientists alive in the hands of the Galra. Shiro had done his best, he had taken down as many sentries as he could before he was taken down with the Holts. When he had come to, the Galra had him on his knees in front of a hologram, his captor reporting to the commander on screen that he was successful in capturing the targeted Republic astrophysicists. Shiro hadn’t recognized either of them, but he recognized the name “Zarkon” when his captor gleefully reported that he had chained a Jedi.

The switch made Shiro flinch, and suddenly he wasn’t in the Meditation Chapel. He was in an all too familiar room, dark purple illumination giving him only the faintest of light, his arms stretched out and locked in place by energy binds.

Shiro was back in his cell. He hadn’t escaped. There had been no rescue. He was still with the Galra.

There was a sound of a door sliding open, and there stood Haggar. Shiro couldn’t remember her name, but he remembered all too well the touch of her clawed fingers as she took his chin, **_“Champion. Emperor Zarkon is pleased with you.”_ ** Then she vanished into black smoke. Everything was black smoke.

Shiro fell to his knees, his head in his hands. Why was Zarkon proud of him? What had he done that would make his master pleased? It should be a good thing, right? He should feel proud of the praise, he had done a good job, so why did he feel so sick?

It hit like a starfighter to his chest, sending Shiro flying backwards and into another memory. Unlike the confusion before, this was clear as day.

Zarkon stood over the body of King Alfor, lightsaber in hand and a dark look on his face.

The confusion dwindled, and Shiro ran, **“Master! What happened? King Alfor-”**

**“Was afraid and weak,”** Zarkon interrupted. **“If he was truly a king he would have seen better. He would have seen the power at our fingertips.”**

Confusion blossomed in the younger Shiro; his master and King Alfor were friends, why would Zarkon, a Jedi Master, kill a friend over a difference in opinion? In cold blood?

**“Kill his heir, then Altea will fall for its kings foolishness.”**

Shiro’s heart stopped. “What?”

**_“Kill the Grand Master, Champion,”_ ** Honerva told him. She began to morph, her back slouching and a cloak growing out of her skin until it covered her, **_“Become the apprentice you were made to be.”_ **

Something hit his head, and Shiro fell off the stool.

Clutching his head, Shiro pushed himself up off the floor of the Chapel. The nightmare visions were gone, Master Yoda sat in front of him. For some reason the room seemed to be warmer than before.

“Apologies,” Master Yoda told him, “Headed your fear I should have. Deeper than expected, your trauma goes. Carefuller in the future we will have to be.”

Shiro looked at the small lightsaber the master held in his hand, “Did you hit me?”

“Could not reach you through the memories, so a second option I used. Not let you sink any deeper I could.”

Shame formed in Shiro’s chest, “Master, I’m-”

“Do not feel sorry for what I have seen. No choice you were given in what would happen during meditation.”

He still felt awful, “... it keeps happening. Usually it’s when I’m sleeping, nightmares wake me up and I can’t get back to sleep. I’ve tried meditation when I get tried and it usually works. But sometimes my mind slips. It hasn’t happened in battle, but Master… I’m scared that it will. That I’ll suddenly freeze up and it might get the padawans or Allura hurt.”

Yoda nodded, “Faith in the padawans you should have. Trained well they are, and made sure they can take care of themselves I am sure you did. Do not fear what may or may not happen, but be ready should it. Fear of the unknown will do you no good. Neither will fear of your past. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Shiro had plenty to fear: the Galra, imprisonment, the fate of his padawans and Allura and Coran and the Order. He was angry as well, but it wasn’t directed at anyone or anything. He was angry that he couldn’t understand why his master betrayed the Jedi, angry why he couldn’t have stopped him when he had the chance. Shiro hated Zarkon and Haggar and just about every other Galra that had made him suffer, but at the same time he would find himself missing them.

He trained under Zarkon for ten years. A decade to get to know someone and bond with them, to grow to trust and love someone. Shiro knew he had blood relatives, but he was taken to the order when he was five and raised by the Jedi. After ten years, Zarkon had become like a father figure to him.

“Think of this hatred you should,” Yoda suggested. “Resolve yourself to let it go, and accept what has happened. Change the past, you cannot.”

Shiro nodded and stood up, “Thank you, Master, for seeing me.”

“See you again I will,” the master smiled softly, “continue these talks we should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah I f*cking did that. If you're 11 and you spend the majority of your life with a teacher/mentor then attachment is going to happen whether you want it to or not. So MORE tragic anime backstory for Shiro. Also I am going to implement some more of Shiro's PTSD into later chapters, there's been an extreme lacking on my part so far. It may be confusing between what is happening in the flashback, but parts of it are just recurring nightmares Shiro's had since Zarkon's betrayal, not all of it really happened.
> 
> *edit: Shiro joined the Order when he was five, not three*
> 
> If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments or send me a message!


	14. Loyalty and War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> General Allura and her padawans escort captured Viceroy Nute Gunray to trial, unaware of the oncoming prisoner break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I have been away for a bit! Thanks for waiting! Have an extra long chapter as a reward. This chapter is basically The Clone Wars episode "Cloak of Darkness". This was kind of rushed, but I am already working on the next chapter. Enjoy!

Allura stood in the bridge behind the pilots, “Captain, have you made contact with the cruiser?”

“Yes, General. We’ll patch you through now.”

With the touch of a button the signal went through and screen above them lit up. On screen were three soldiers, each in Mandalorian armour.

“Jedi cruiser _Tranquility_ this is General Allura of Altea requesting permission to land.”

“You are clear, General,” answered the captain on screen. “We await your prisoner’s arrival.”

“Thank you, Captain Argyus. I look forward to delivering him to you.”

Behind Allura, Viceroy Gunray tried to tempt Lance, “I am a man of great wealth, and I can be very _generous_ to my allies.”

Lance, not being fooled, smiled, “That’s a really tempting offer, Viceroy, but I’ll have to pass up on it. In the meantime, though, we have a lovely gift for you.”

He gestured beside him to Hunk, who was holding up a pair of wrist cuffs. Slapping the cuffs onto Gunray, Lance and Hunk turned him over to the clones and joined their master on the bridge. The ship docked onto the cruiser, and the Viceroy was escorted on board by Allura, her padawans, and Commander Gree.

“This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice!” Gunray said loudly. “I demand my litigator!”

Gree seemed just as annoyed as Lance as he nudged Gunray forward, “Keep moving.”

Lance and Hunk shared a smile. Allura chose to ignore it, and instead focused her attention on the captain coming to meet them. Argyus was flanked by four Senate Commandos, all in full armour excluding Argyus, who had removed his helmet.

“Greetings, General. We have the brig all ready for this traitor.”

Allura nodded, “Thank you, Captain. Commander Gree, let’s get underway.”

“Right away, sir.” Gree said, then spat at Gunray, “Let’s move.”

Argyus and his men guarded around Gunray, Gree, Allura, Lance and Hunk following behind them. Something about that bothered Hunk. “Senate Commandos?” He looked to Allura, “Why are there Senate Commandos needed as security for the Viceroy? I mean, no offence to him but he isn’t really all that, like, intimidating.”

“While that is true, don’t let overconfidence give Gunray an advantage, Hunk. The Separatists may be using this transfer as a means to attack us, so we must stay vigilant.”

“Even if it looks like everything is all done?”

“Especially then.” Gunray was locked in a shield cell for interrogation, Gree and two of Argyus’ men guarded the door as Allura began her interrogation. It wasn’t like any other interrogation her padawans had seen. The Jedi Knight didn’t use fear or persuasion to get Gunray to talk. Lance and Hunk felt her in the Force, their master feeling out the emotions surrounding Gunray.

Allura had her eyes closed as she spoke, “Your thoughts betray you, Viceroy. I can sense your concern, you fear that you will lose all the wealth and power the war has given you.”

“I… have no idea what you’re talking about. I am a pawn in all of this.”

“If you’re merely a pawn, then who is pulling your strings? Who are you protecting?”

“No one! I-I know nothing!”

Well that was a bald-faced lie. Lance could tell just by looking at the Neimoidian was holding back the truth. Allura could as well, “I can feel your distress, Viceroy. There is no point in hiding it, and my padawans and I will not be leaving this cell until we have the information you’re hiding.”

Gunray’s face twisted into fear, his gaze going from Allura to Lance and Hunk, “I-” to their lightsabers, “perhaps I was too hasty. Let us negotiate.”

Then the ship was hit.

Gree turned to his comm unit, “Captain, status report.”

“ _Droid fighters, incoming_ ,” the voice sounded, “ _They brought boarding ships._ ”

“Green company, prepare to repel the enemy.” Gree opened the energy field on the doorway, allowing the Jedi to exit the cell. More hits rocked the ship, and Gree’s comm spoke again.

“ _Green Leader to Commander Gree, super battle droids have breached our hull._ _They’re heading for the detention level. We need reinforcements._ ” A blast and cry made Hunk wince, and static came from the comm.

“Commander, I’ll need your assistance.” Allura started walking, Lance and Hunk following after her.

Lance’s face hardened, “Let’s go break some tin cans.”

“You two will stay here,” Allura looked at them. “Guard the Viceroy with Captain Argyus.”

“But-!” Allura’s eyes narrowed and Lance’s shoulders sunk, “Alright.”

Hunk and Lance stood in front of the cell and watched Allura and Commander Gree leave. Lance hated being left behind; he wanted to fight the droids, not babysit the Viceroy.

“It appears you are in no position to negotiate after all,” said Gunray through the ray shield. “Perhaps after my rescue-”

“Yeah, uh huh.” Lance cut him off. “Listen Gunray, if that’s a droid ship risking their scrap against a Republican Senate craft guarded by Jedi, then they probably aren’t here to save you.”

Gunray deflated after that.

* * *

 

There weren’t as many as Allura had been expecting, which was concerning. She and Commander Gree took down the ones closest to the detention centre, Allura weaving her way through the droids as the Commander and the clones covered their backs. Allura sliced the last battle droid in half, and Commander Gree raised his blaster, “Looks like that’s the last of them, General.”

Allura nodded, but she didn’t feel at ease. The tension was still there in the Force, a disturbed feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. It had been too easy to repel the attack. They had lost some good soldiers, some good men, and destroyed the attacking droids. The unease should have left yet it sat in the back of Allura’s mind still. There was still something wrong on this ship.

“Contact Captain Argyus,” she ordered. “Inform him and the padawans that the attack is over, but tell them to remain vigilant. I sense that our troubles are not over yet.”

Gree nodded and spoke into his communicator, delivering her message when the floor shuddered. Allura kept her balance, catching Gree before he fell, and the unease erupted into _danger_. Danger quickly making its way to the Holding Cells. Danger too fast and too coordinated for simple droids.

Danger Allura recognized with a sick feeling in her gut, “Commander Gree, warn Argyus and the padawans that there are Galra on this ship. Do not let them anywhere near the Viceroy.”

* * *

 

Hunk had nearly lost his balance, Lance had fallen over, and sick feeling rolled over in his stomach.

Lance was staring at the floor, then twitched, “What the quiznak was that?”

“Padawans,” Argyus strode towards the two, “your master has reported that Galra sentries have infiltrated the ship.”

Hunk’s heart skipped a few beats, “Did she say how many?”

Argyus shook his head, “No, she didn’t. But I wouldn’t put it past those bloodthirsty beasts to have brought more than we can handle.”

The padawans tensed. It wasn’t like they hadn’t faced Galra droids before, they’d faced plenty on the Balmera after all. But that had been on the planet’s surface, in open space, not on a cramped ship.

Hunk had a bad feeling about this. A bad feeling coming from the lower decks, from where Allura was. A really, really bad feeling that felt like it was getting stronger. It was getting closer.

It was right outside the door.

Pulling his lightsaber out just in time to deflect a blast aimed for his chest, Hunk took down the first sentry. Three more burst through the doors, a clone officer fell, and Hunk and Lance took to the start of the hall to deflect blasts and push the droids back.

After about the tenth droid, Lance yelled, “How many of these things did they bring?”

“Enough to keep you busy, kid.” And Lance dropped with a startled yelp.

Hunk panicked, “Lance! What-?” Something hit his spin, shocking him, and Hunk fell unconscious.

When he woke up he was in Gunray’s cell with Lance, the Viceroy missing. Great. Lance looks less than pleased at the situation, glaring at the ray shielded door where their captors stood. Captain Argyus had his blaster out and stood behind the Viceroy, a smug look on Gunray’s face.

“I hope you enjoy your new accommodations, Jedi.”

Lance sneered at Argyus, “This isn’t going to end well for you, traitor.”

“Everything’s fair in war, kid,” Argyus said. “I get Gunray to the Separatists and get paid a fortune.”

Hunk was appalled. That was his reason? Credit? “You’re betraying us for some money? You’re betraying the Republic because some dumb Separatist promised you a couple of credits?”

“I wouldn’t expect a couple of Jedi to understand. Time to go Gunray.”

The Neimoidian agreed and walked off to the elevator, Argyus following after him. Lance stood up and shouted, “Allura’s still out there Argyus! Our master’s going to kick your ass when she finds out what you’ve done!”

Argyus looked back at them, “I don’t doubt it. If she can get through that druid.”

Hunk didn’t like that. He didn’t like this whole situation. Argyus had been what Hunk had sensed, not the sentries. He’d been so busy taking down the Galra droids that he didn’t even notice Argyus killing the other Senate Guards. He’d shot Lance and before Hunk could even register it he’d shot Hunk in the back. And now he and Gunray were out escaping while Lance and Hunk were stuck in a holding cell… A holding cell with a control panel, with a button release.

Hunk concentrated, picturing the button on the door in his mind. He heard Lance sit back down and grumble, and felt the button on the other side of the door. It was just like the very first exercise Shiro had them do; picture the screw and lift it through the Force. Hunk could see the button, could feel it on his fingertips, and he pushed it.

The ray shield disappeared.

“Nice one dude!” Lance praised and patted him on the back. “Let’s go kick that jerks butt.”

Hunk nodded and they took off after Argyus, Hunk activating his comm unit, “Allura? Allura do you hear me?”

“ _I’m here Hunk. Are you and Lance alright?_ ” Allura’s voice echoed in the hallway.

“We’re fine, but Argyus has betrayed us and freed the Viceroy.”

Hunk heard Allura curse over the comm, “ _You two go after Argyus and Gunray. Do NOT allow them to leave the station. Understood?_ ”

“Got it, but Allura… Argyus said there was a druid on board. Do you know what that means?”

Lance had his lightsaber activated and turned a tight corner, Hunk following shortly, “Allura? Does the druid have anything to do with the Galra?”

He heard her sigh, “ _Yes Hunk, I’m afraid they do. Druids are magic-wielders similar to the inhabitants of Dathomir. Focus on Argyus and the Viceroy, I will handle the druid._ ”

“Allura we can-”

“ _No. Your job is to make sure Gunray does not leave the station. That is an order, padawan._ ”

Hunk gave up, “Yes ma’am.” The transmission ended, and he sprinted up to Lance’s side, “Allura’s going to take care of the druid. We’re in charge of Gunray.”

“If we can catch up to the slimy nerf herder,” grumbled Lance. “They’ve probably headed to the docking bay. If we hurry we can make it before they take off.”

* * *

 

Allura had a headache, and the lightning had nothing to do with it. She’d found the druid easily, throwing him back into the wall with the Force before starting a dangerous duel. The duel she could handle, the druid she could handle, the worry and distress over Argyus’ betrayal she could more than live without.

She could live without the bolts of lightning tearing the ship apart too. After splitting up from Gree and the clones, Allura had found the Druid in the belly of the ship by the power generator, and the Galra had taken to using a smoke screen to blast at her randomly. One lucky hit and she could very well die. Or at least be stunned.

The druid threw a blast of magic near her, hitting the pipe next to Allura and releasing gas in her eye. She yelled, her hand rushing to her eye and letting go of her lightsaber falling. It burned.

The lightsaber vanished from her feet, reappearing in the hand of the Druid. “Now what shall you do without your sword, Jedi?”

Allura glared at the Druid as best she could with one good eye, before her gaze dropped to the floor. “I am trained in more than just swordsmanship, Druid.”

She picked up the pipe, and swung out at the Druid. He blocked the first strike with energy, Allura bringing the other end up to hit him in the mask. The attack missed as the Druid vanished, appearing at the other end of the room, lightning flying out of his palm. Allura step sided it and rushed the Druid, aiming the end of the pipe at his torso. It hit, air rushing from the Druids mouth and leaving him stunned long enough for Allura to bring the piping down on his head.

The Druid crashed to the ground, Allura’s lightsaber falling out of his hand. She picked it up and pointed the piping at the downed Galra, “Surrender.”

He didn’t say anything, but Allura could sense the hatred flowing from behind the mask. He raised a hand and shot a final strike of energy before vanishing. Allura didn’t sense his dark presence in the room anymore, which worried her. “Commander Gree,” she opened her comm unit, “Are you all alright?”

“ _We’re all good General. A tad banged up but still alive._ ”

“What of the padawans? Hunk? Lance, can you hear me?”

Lance’s voice answered the comm, “ _We’re okay, Allura._ ” The young Jedi did not sound happy, “ _We’re sorry, but Gunray got away with Argyus. We just missed the pod they escaped in._ ”

That wasn’t good, but Allura knew it wasn’t on purpose. Her padawans were dedicated and they would have done what they could. “It’s alright Lance. You did what you could and that’s all I can ask. I think it’s safe to say that both the Druid and Argyus are gone, so we will have to report this to the council. Meet me on the bridge.”

Hunk told her what had happened with Argyus, how he had stunned them and killed the Senate Guards, how they had chased after him to the hanger only to find it empty. He apologised again and again but Allura swore to him that there was nothing they could have done. It didn’t stop the feeling of failure flow from them. They contacted the High Council and informed Master Yoda and Master Windu of the situation.

“ _Troubling is the treachery of the Senate Guard Captain Argyus. Revealed all around us our enemies are_.” Master Yoda said.

Allura agreed, “Gunray and Argyus stole a Republican ship. We can track it.”

The masters agreed, but Yoda did not look as relieved, “ _A coward Viceroy Gunray is, but powerful allies he has. Swiftly we must move if we are to recapture him._ ”

“Master Fisto’s fleet was near Gunray’s position,” Allura remembered. “I will contact him to follow the signal.”

“ _Well done, Allura_ ,” Master Windu praised.

The transmission ended, Lance stretching his arms over his head, “I don’t know about you but I could definitely use the time to relax.”

“We won’t be relaxing, Lance. We’ll only be waiting for Shiro and the others to return from their mission before we’re reassigned.”

Lance pouted while Hunk asked, “Where did Master Windu send them anyways? Shiro looked pretty…”

“Annoyed,” Lance finished.

In all honesty Allura did not blame her fellow master, “The Republic received a transmission that a group of pirates were able to capture a Galra commander. Shiro, Pidge, and Keith were sent to confirm the story. They should be finished soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys thought! Updates might be a bit slower for a bit due to school but next chapter is Keith, Pidge and Shiro, featuring a special guest! Subscribe and leave a comment!


	15. Double Cross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Republic has received word that a Galra commander has been captured by the pirate Hondo Ohnaka. With the need for Separatist information, Shiro, Keith, and Pidge are sent to confirm the capture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is very late and much longer than I planned on it being. I'm not extremely happy with it, so I might edit it later but ENJOY!

“So…” Pidge began, “how do you know Hondo?”

Shiro glanced at her from the pilot’s seat, “Why do you ask?”

“Your eyes practically rolled out of your head when Master Windu told us about the mission. So, spill. How do you know him?”

Ignoring the looks of expectancy both padawans were giving him, Shiro signed, “I had a few run-ins with him when I was a padawan. He gave me and my master some trouble, but he’s mostly harmless. Unless there’s some credit to be made… Which there is on this mission.”

“You don’t sound very happy about that.”

Shiro glared out the window, “Like I said, Hondo can be dangerous when there’s a profit on the line.”

“We can handle it,” Keith told him. “Even unarmed. We can take a couple of pirates.”

“We’re not fighting them, Keith. We’re only confirming if they have a Galra commander or not. If it comes to a fight, improvise.”

Florrum came into view and Shiro piloted the shuttle down to the pirates settlement. Exiting the shuttle, Shiro lead the padawans towards the encampment, ignoring the looks and guns the pirates had trained on them until coming to a Weequay holding a scanner. Once confirmed they weren’t armed the pirate told them to follow him, and they did to the building settlement. The first thing Keith noticed was the smell of alcohol, and the second was the monkey-lizard as it screeched at him and jumped away.

They were lead to the back where a group of Weequay had gathered around a bar. One of the Weequay, a male wearing a helmet, goggles, and a red coat, smiled and held his drink, “Well, there’s a face I haven’t seen in a long time. Far too long by the looks of you, boy. I must admit, the scar does make you look intimidating.”

Shiro crossed his arms, “Hello to you too, Hondo.”

The pirate laughed, spilling some drink, “No longer the little boy who helped me get rid of those ruffians breathing down my neck, are you?”

“I was twelve and you were trying to kidnap me.”

“Ah, details.” Hondo waved his hand, “So, let’s get onto business. Did you bring my spice?”

“That depends if you’ve held up your end of the bargain, Hondo. I want to see this commander you’ve claimed to have captured.”

Hondo set down his drink, “Yes, yes. Come, I’ll show you your Galra.”

The Galra Commander was being held in the back quarters of the settlement. He was chained to the wall by gravity binds, his purple furred body covered by a black battered shirt and uniform pants and boots. As far as Shiro could tell he wasn’t injured. So he stepped into the cell, Pidge and Keith staying outside the cell with Hondo.

It seemed fishy to Keith, how with the entire army the Republic had at their side that they weren’t able to capture a high ranking member of the Galra empire, yet group of pirates could.

“How did you capture him?” he asked Hondo.

Hondo looked at Keith like he had just noticed him, “A good pirate never reveals his secrets, young man. Now tell me, how fares your friends boss? I was _very_ happy to hear that that giant scary man would not be delivering my spice.”

Keith assumed the pirate was referring to Shiro’s old master, “Shiro’s master died.”

“Really? Are you sure about that?”

“That’s what Shiro told us.”

Hondo looked to the cell, a smirk on his face, “Ah, so the boy does have the makings of a pirate after all. I always knew he did.”

* * *

Shiro was disappointed. He had really hoped that at least some of the Galra he knew would oppose Zarkon. This one in particular.

“ _It’s been a while, Thace_.”

The commander nodded, a sad look on his face as he responded in Galra, “ _Nearly a decade now. I do regret that this is the situation we are meeting under_.”

“ _Me too. I’m guessing that our past experience won’t be enough to get you to tell me what the Separatists are up to_?” Thace stayed quiet, Shiro nodded, “ _Thought so_.”

He left the cell and addressed the pirate, “We’ll call the Senate to confirm your claims. They’ll send a shipment with your spice.”

Hondo clapped his hands together, “Wonderful! Now that all of this over you can join me in the grand hall for a grand banquet. Drinks are on me.”

“We’ll make the transmission before joining any parties,” Shiro said sternly. He motioned for Keith and Pidge to follow him back to the ship, where the call to the Senate when through.

“I can confirm that they do have a Galra commander. Send the spice.”

Chancellor Antilles pressed his lips, “Is he being securely held? There is no chance of a Galra rescue?”

Shiro shook his head, “His armor was gone leaving him without a communicator, and Hondo has him trapped in a gravity bind. He won’t be leaving any time soon.”

“Good. Senator Kharrus and Representative Binks will be dispatched immediately.”

The transmission ended, and Keith crossed his arms. Clearly unhappy, Pidge noticed.

“Someone feels on edge.”

“Doesn’t it seem too easy?” he asked. “The Republic hasn’t been able to capture a single member of the Galra army that wasn’t a droid, but somehow these pirates was able to capture a commanding officer?”

“Hondo had numbers,” Shiro pointed out. “Not even a Jedi would get out alive when faced with twenty armed threats.” He made his way out of the ship, Pidge following after him back to the pirates hideout. Keith sunk lower on the chair before following after them, trying his best to ignore the bad feeling he had.

The pirates were celebrating in booze and table dancing. A female Weequay drunkenly dancing past the stools Keith, Pidge and Shiro sat themselves on. Keith and Pidge did their best to ignore the laughs and pointing from the drunkers, Shiro looked mildly amused by the dancing Weequay when Hondo threw an arm around his and Keith’s shoulders.

“Now can I persuade you to join us for a drink? It’s tradition in the name of friendship, as you know Jedi boy. Even your young friends are welcome to a toast.”

Shiro rolled his eyes and glanced at the padawans, then sighed. “Alright. One drink but nothing too strong, Hondo. We both know what your drinks can do.”

“Ha ha, yes I remember very well,” Hondo looked over to one of the bartenders, “Bring our guests some… refreshments.”

* * *

Keith woke up with a killer headache. Pidge groaned next to him, “What the heck was in that drink?”

“Most likely an undetectable sedative.”

Keith’s head whipped around to whoever had said that, finding the Galra prisoner sitting next to Pidge. Sitting attached to Pidge via energy cuffs bound to all six of their wrists and chests. Great.

“I’m going to strangle that pirate,” he grumbled.

“That does not sound like a Jedi action,” the Galra said.

“No one asked you. Pidge, where’s Shiro?”

Pidge shook her head, “I don’t know. But if he’s not in here then Hondo has to have him locked in another cell somewhere.”

“Right, then let’s get out of this damn cell, find him, and transmission the Senate to cancel that spice shipment.” He stood up and moved to the door, only stopped by the tug on his chest. “Pidge?”

“What? Oh! Sorry,” she stood too and moved with him, only for the band to tug again. Keith and Pidge looked to the Galra. He sighed and stood. Keith looked across the hall, finally able to reach the door, and spotted a gift. One of the Weequay had left a plate in the hall, a plate with a knife on it.

Keith concentrated on the knife. He’d always had an affinity for knives, he’s had the one from his mother since before he can remember. If he’d brought it with them and ignored Hondo’s “unarmed” rule they could have been free already. He weaved the Force around the knife and willed it to levitate, bringing it closer to the door until it fit into the key slot. The doors opened.

“Now we just need to find Shiro.”

* * *

Shiro didn’t know when he blacked out. He didn’t even recall drinking very much. That didn’t matter now anyway, because the second Shiro opened his eyes he knew where he was… At least he thought he did.

The last time he had been locked in a cell by gravity binds had been… well it had been a few months at least. Five months to be precise. _The binds held his arms out above his head, his feet were bound to a single point, the light hurt his eyes and the weight held him fastly._ _Purple flickered in the room, flashing against the black metal and hiding the door in the shadows as scream echoed from the hall and -_

Shiro shut his eyes and shook his head. This wasn’t a Galra cell, he wasn’t there, he was stuck in a quiznaking pirate hideout run by a _akthid_ pirate waiting for a _zrithiding_ shipment of  spice. Shiro swore he was going to tear Hondo in half the second he got his hands on him.

The cell doors opened in walked the bastard himself. Shiro resisted the urge to Force choke Hondo. “You better have a damned good reason for this Hondo.”

“I do in fact,” Hondo said. “This is a perfect chance to make not just one, but three different profits. The Galra will be passed on the Republic in exchange for spice, and you my old friend…” Hondo shook his head, “You’re quite the wanted man, you know. My friends and I have heard of the bounty placed on your head. A nice bit of profit I can make off your friends as well.”

That set something off in Shiro and his voice lowered, “If you do anything to them, Hondo, I swear you won’t be seeing a single piece of spice. The Republic and the Jedi won’t take kindly to this and by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be wishing for a sentenced imprisonment.”

“You keep making your threats, Jedi boy,” Hondo waved the threat off. “In any other situation I’d be ransoming you Jedi off like the commander, but the price the Galra are offering far outweighs anything the Republic is willing to give. So until then, you and your little friends are my most appreciated guests.”

He should have seen that coming. The Galra were not forgiving when it came to escaped prisoners; if they couldn't capture Shiro then they would be more than willing to offer a prize for the head of their "Champion". What didn't make sense was the price on the padawans. Shiro grit his teeth, “Then use me for the ransom Hondo, but leave the padawans alone. Give them to the Republic and maybe I’ll spare any detail about you from the Galra.”

“That is quite the proposition, my friend.” A smile spread on Hondo’s face, “A very pirate-like proposition. But I’m afraid I will have to decline your proposal. My spice is on its way, and once it gets here I will be sending a transmission off to our benefactors.”

He turned back to the cell door, and Shiro pulled at the binds, “They’re kids, Hondo! The Galra won’t let them live and the second you send a transmission to them they’ll hunt you down and kill you too! You have to know that! Hondo!”

* * *

Plan A had failed, and Keith blamed the Galra. Thace, he said his name was, had lead them right into a pirate filled hallway claiming it was the way he was brought in. The attempted break out had only ended with the three of them being bound closer together by binds around their chests, as a Weequay tightened them closer together.

Keith glared daggers at Hondo, “You’re going to pay for this, you know. The Republic isn’t going to take well to being swindled.”

“No one is being swindled, my friend. I told the Republic I have a Galra captive, and I still do. I never lied, I only withheld information.”

“You double-crossed us, you nerfherder!” Pidge yelled at him.

Hondo waved it off, “If you three are done causing trouble, I trust you will remain in your cell until further notice. I don’t want to kill you, per se. You seem like decent children. This is just business, and once I get my money we can go back to being friends again. Now,” Hondo moved towards the cell door, two Weequay holding them at blaster point, “try not to complicate things by breaking out again.”

The gunners left the cell with Hondo, a Weequay guard standing outside the cell. Wonderful. _Great_ , Keith thought. _Another pirate to get around._ He looked at Pidge, who looked just as frustrated as he felt, and they moved towards the door. They stopped at the door, the Weequay telling them to get back away from the cell, and Pidge nudged his shoulder.

Keith took the hint, which didn’t make him happy. He had very little experience with the mind trick, they’d seen Shiro use it before once or twice, but he’d never had to use it on someone in a real life situation. Hopefully this Weequay was weak-minded.

Maybe that bottle of booze by him would help.

“You want to unlock this door,” Keith looked the pirate in his eyes, “and go out drinking.”

He pushed the thought as hard as he could through the Force, and the Weequay’s face slackened, “I want to unlock the door and go out drinking.”

With a smile on his face, the pirate did just that and left. Keith, Pidge, and Thace made their way out of the cell.

“Let’s not trust the Galra this time,” Pidge sent a glare to said Galra.

Keith matched the glare, “We find Shiro, we call the Republic and cancel that spice.”

They krept through the halls, ducking around corners to avoid the eyes of wandering pirates as they made their way deeper into hold.

“You need to relax,” Pidge whispered. “I can feel your anxiety from here.”

“I’ll relax once we make sure Shiro’s okay. Hondo locked him up somewhere in here.”

“I don’t get why Hondo didn’t just lock him up with us. If his plan was to ransom us off to the Republic with the Galra, why bother putting him in a separate holding cell?”

“The pirate most likely plans to sell him to the empire.”

Both padawans stopped in their tracks, their eyes on Thace. The Galra continued, “A very high bounty was placed on Shirogane after his escape. Hondo most likely plans to collect it.”

“How… how much is the bounty?” Pidge asked.

“Roughly ten million credits.”

A stone dropped in Keith’s gut, “We have to find Shiro.”

* * *

He’d given up trying to break the bonds after the third electrocution. Hondo must have added a pressure sensor to the gravity binds, to “persuade” him not to try and move them, which ruined his plan to pull the binders apart with the Force. So all in all he was stuck. Hondo had given an order for his men not to enter the cell, probably fearing Shiro would get them to undo the binds with a mind trick, and there was still the threat of punishment hanging over his padawans’ heads.

Shiro would rather die than let those kids see what he had. They had no experience with Galra. The most they had was when Sendak had attacked their ship, and they’d been armed. If Hondo, the damn fool, handed them over to the empire than Shiro knew they’d die. Keith and Pidge were skilled Jedi, they’d been learning drastically fast given the circumstances, and they might hold up for a few weeks, but they wouldn’t last if given the chance. The Galra would make sure of that; Haggar would make sure they didn’t.

Shiro couldn’t even think about what that witch might do to his padawans, and began looking around the cell. A loose screw or a knife, something to interfere with the gravity binds holding him, but there was nothing. There was a guard, however.

“How much spice does Hondo plan on sharing with you?”

The Weequay glanced back at him, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m just curious,” Shiro shrugged. “I’ve known Hondo for a long time now and, in my experience, he’s not the kind to share. Especially with a bounty such as the one on me.”

He felt the pirates doubt, annoyance surrounded him like a fog. It wasn’t enough though, for him to just be annoyed. Shiro needed to get out of these gravity binds and to do that he needed a key card. A key card currently attached to the pirates belt.

So, if he wanted the pirate close enough to grab a key then he need to take a page from Lance’s book.

“But you look like you could use some new clothes, and Hondo would probably love to reward you for standing around doing nothing so maybe you’ll get a new set of pants. After all, playing guard is such a hard job. You’ve earned it.”

Stars, he was really glad Lance wasn’t here right now to hear him.

“Shut your mouth, Jedi,” the pirate snapped at him.

Shiro waved his hand as best he could, and focused on the Weequay’s mind, “You want to drop your blaster, and step inside the cell.”

He looked confused, but the grip on his blaster was slacking as he glanced at the cell, “I want to drop my blaster and-” a pipe hit his head, the pirate dropping to the ground unconscious. Behind him, Shiro saw Keith, Pidge, and Thace, a broken piece of piping in Keith’s hand.

“Keith!”

Shiro had never been happier to see the padawans, and Thace, standing outside the cell. Keith grabbed the key card from the pirates belt and the three of them stumbled into together, still in energy cufflinks. Keith looked at the gravity binds, to the generator on the ceiling, “How do I-?”

Shiro fell to his feet, the gravity field dispersing along with the lights.

“Guess that means the power generator is dead,” Pidge commented. Shiro agreed, but the pirates would have no reason to turn off their own power, meaning…

“Remind me to thank Jar Jar,” he looked to the cuffs still on their hands, “Now let’s get these things off.”

“Hondo has our lightsabers. These are military grade,” Pidge held her hands up, “no seams or holes to pull apart with. We couldn’t even break them on a table edge.”

“I wasn’t going to pull them apart.” Shiro held up his hands and activated his prosthetic, neon purple cutting through the bind easily, “Hold still.”

He cut each of the padawan’s bonds, cutting them away from the still chained Thace.

“No offence, Thace,” Shiro said to him, “but I’m not trusting you without these. You’re still wanted by the Republic.”

Thace seemed to understand, and the four began back to the buildings entrance. They came across few pirates, the ones they did being so surprised that the Jedi were able to easily knock them unconscious. One pirate had been prepared though, and took a shot at Pidge’s chest.

The blast never hit, Shiro’s prosthetic hand blocking the blast before metting with the Rodian’s face.

“You’ve gotten better at hand to hand combat, I see.”

Confusion blossomed on Keith’s and Pidge’s face, the pair of them looking from Thace to Shiro. The Knight himself looked less than pleased with Thace’s comment, “Nine years of practice tends to do that.”

Pidge felt the tension in the air, like a rubber band being stretched too thinly. Yeah, the Republic and the Order had a bad reputation with the Galra, and from what she had gathered so far was that Shiro had some personal tie to them aside from the slavery. Hell, the Galra had placed a bounty on her and the other’s heads just for being Shiro’s padawans. Clearly there was some kind of unmentioned connection, and Pidge wanted answers.

“So…” this was going to be awkward, “how do you two know each other?”

Shiro knocked out another pirate, “It’s a long story that we don’t have time for right now.”

She wanted to ask more, but they’d arrived at the grand hall, pirates standing around trying to figure out why the lights were out. Hondo stood by the control switch with another pirate, the two trying to turn the lights back on. A few mental pieces glinted from Hondo’s belt, and the Jedi reached out to pull their lightsabers from the belt.

“What-?” Hondo exclaimed seconds before Keith was holding his saber at his throat. The pirates in the room turned to them, their blasters aimed and ready to fire.

“Shoot us and he dies,” Keith told them. He pulled Hondo in front of him, keeping his red saber trained at Hondo’s throat. Shiro and Pidge backed to the exit with him and Hondo, the pirates following them.

“What now Jedi?” Hondo said to him, “What chance do you really have? Now let me go, and I might let you live.”

Keith only tugged on Hondo’s arm, his glare never leaving the pirates. Shiro and Pidge kept their lightsabers active, when behind them a tank and a ship rolled up. Hondo smiled,

“Looks like your forces were destroyed, Jedi.”

Shiro almost laughed when the tank hatched opened and the head of Jar Jar Binks popped out. The Gungan greeted them with a wave, telling them he brought the spice as a couple of clone troops stepped out of tanks. Shiro glanced around before looking at Hondo.

“I guess the deals off Hondo. Keith, let him go.”

Keith looked at him, but begrudgingly let the pirate go.

Hondo too, looked just as confused, “After everything, you’re going to let me go just like that? You’re just going to walk away?”

“Unless you haven’t noticed, your bargaining chip is gone and we’re not your prisoners anymore. We have no quarrel, and we don’t seek revenge if you’ve forgotten.”

“I see. Very honorable of you, Jedi boy.”

Keith and Pidge started up the ramp to the ship, Shiro following them before turning back to Hondo, “Oh, Hondo, I’m not sure how much dealing you have with the Galra, but you should know that they aren’t the type to forgive so easily, _and_ Thace knows where you live.”

He boarded the ship and sat with his padawans, Pidge’s eyes already one him.

Shiro wasn’t going to meet that pressing gaze, “I’m not telling you.”

“You said we didn’t have time, and now we do. Spill.”

He would prefer not to, but Pidge was looking at him so expectedly, and Keith was looking at him in similar curiosity. Even the commander was watching him. Shiro broke.

“I’ll tell you and the others when we get back to the temple.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is setting up for future shenanigans
> 
> *edit: Shiro and Thace are now talking in Galra so no one else can understand them*
> 
> subscribe and leave a comment! see ya next time


	16. Arus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A protected planet is under attack, so the Republic sends a team of their best/most available Jedi to the rescue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am back! Short chapter update to make sure you all know I'm not giving up on this story, school has gotten a bit hectic and I may not be able to update as frequently as I would like. I'm still going though!
> 
> Hope you enjoy part 1 of 2!

They hadn’t made it back to the Temple. The moment they landed in the Temple hanger Allura, Hunk, and Lance pulled them to another ship and they were in the stars once again. Once they had met with an awaiting fleet and set a course for hyperspeed, the Jedi were informed of the situation.

“The planet is called Arus,” a hologram appeared in front of Allura, “and it has been targeted by Galra forces.”

Holograms of Galra cruisers appeared around the planet, but something was wrong. This made no sense to Pidge; they had all studied allied and protected Republic planets in their lessons and Arus was a _very_ underdeveloped planet. “Why Arus?” she asked. “It’s a third world planet. Does it produce something the Galra would have an interest in?”

Shiro shook his head, “The Galra wouldn’t be interested in anything an agricultural, pacifist settlement could provide. Arus itself doesn’t produce any raw materials they can’t get on another vassal planet.”

Allura dismissed the hologram. “The best theory Chancellor Organa and the senate can come to is a hostage situation. Since Arus is under the protection of the Galactic Senate, it could be that the Galra want to negotiate its release for something they can’t acquire themselves.”

“That seems really unlikely for a planet conquering empire that seemed to grow each day.” said Keith. “The Galra already occupied a good three quarters of the Outer and Mid Rim.”

“Arus has been occupied for nearly a whole spicolian movement without any word from the Galra regarding a ransom. Which is why the Republic is sending us to free the Arusians from the Galra presence.”

Allura proceeded to explain their plan of action: the Arusian settlement was top priority, meaning that the Clone troopers and the Jedi would be concentrating their attack on the barricade surrounding the native village. While the ground force was freeing the village, the cruiser and star ships would be focused on taking down the Galra cruiser. Once the settlement was secured they were to stay with the Arusians until the area had been cleared of Galra activity and a security force was established.

The blue and green planet of Arus soon came into view, a Galra cruiser rested in its atmosphere. The troopers fell into their battlestations while the Jedi boarded the transport, and a battle broke out. Blaster fire shook the ship but the shields held, and fighter pilots began to disembark into the air. The transport would have to wait until there was an opportunity to take off, and Lance only hoped that the clones managed to drive away enough Galra fighters to get safely to Arus.

Another shake and the com on the transport’s dashboard sounded “ _You have an opening! Go! We’ll cover you!_ ”. The transport lifted out of the hanger, and the padawans got their first look at an airship battle. Fighter jets chased after Republic ships, firing purple blasts while taking heat from the starfighters. The chaos of ships covered the sky in an array of colours, jets and starfighters speeding around the transport and through the air. A fighter jet exploded off to the right of the transport, the shockwave nearly throwing the ship off course and causing the Jedi padawans to hang on tighter.

In the distance they could see the village, a tiny settlement featuring few Arusian houses, barricaded by a purple force field.

They made it down to the earth of Arus in one piece, and were immediately met with a force of sentries. The Jedi activated their lightsabers as the clones took cover, firing at any senty the Jedi didn’t take down. Hunk deflected any blast he met and threw back at the sentries while Lance wove his way through the forces, slashing and stabbing at the droids. Pidge used her height to her advantage while fighting, getting below the sentry’s line of vision before cutting it in half or taking its legs off and leaving them defenceless for either the troopers of Jedi to take care of. Keith was commonly the one following behind her, his lightsaber ready to cut a hole through a sentries headpiece. He was the fastest and most agile of the Jedi, running past blaster fire and vaulting over them with his sword down to slice the droid’s head in half before taking off again.

Allura, unlike Lance’s simpler Shii-Cho style, danced through the sentry forces, wielding her lightsaber in the deadliest dance ever performed. Sweeping droids from under them, twirling in a tornado of deadly blue-white light to slice through any sentry that got in her way. Allura stabbed through a sentries faceplate then cut upwards, bringing her lightsaber down on another droid to cut it in half, adding a twirl at the end to cut another sentry in two. Niman fighting had been nicknamed "the Diplomat's form" by many Jedi, and Allura upheld that name with grace and fluidity few could muster.

Contrasting the other Knight, Shiro’s own fighting style differed from the Jedi teachings. His skill with the Juyo style of lightsaber wielding was unparalleled in the Order, and his time as a gladiator only seemed to have given him even more of an edge on using the terrain around him, but the Jedi had never seen Shiro pair his saber with his fist. It was a spectacular relief to find out that Shiro’s Galra arm could break blasts just as well as a saber, a feature he put to good use when facing the sentries. When Shiro wasn’t using his lightsaber to cut through the droids, his hand sliced into their chest cavities as he crushed another with the Force.

In a matter of hours the last of the army was defeated, broken fighter jets lay smoking in the grass and dead sentires littered the earth. There had been minimum casualties, thank the stars, and once the sentries and fighter jets had been destroyed it was a simple matter to take down the force field around the settlement.

“Thank you, great and mighty Jedi warriors!” the Arusian King welcomed them. “The Lion Goddess has smiled upon you and given you victory against our captors! Glory to the Jedi!”

The King chief of the Arusians had greeted them the moment the ray shield had been deactivated. Like the other Arusians the king had curled horns and a thick tail, and anteni-like whiskers coming from his cheeks.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Allura told him. “I’m happy that we could free your people from the Galra. Please know that if you are ever in need of aid, the Republic will be there for you.”

“Please Mistress Jedi, we were unable to fight off the invading Galra, and beg you to forgive us. Please accept our traditional Dance of Apology as atonement for our failure.”

Seemingly oblivious to the bizarre looks the Jedi were giving each other, the King clapped his hands and an Arusian girl struck a pose in front of Allura, “Commence Dance of Apology. Hoorah!”

The dance began, a combination of strange toe movements and arm waving, prompting Lance to quietly ask Hunk, “What are they apologising for? It’s not their fault the Galra wanted to use them as hostages.”

Overheard by Allura, the Knight politely declined the dance. “Please, there is no need for this.”

“Munetoe!” The dancing girl stopped. “The Jedi have refused the apology. Start the sacrificial fire! We must throw ourselves in.”

A bonfire erupted and the king turned towards it.

“No!” Allura panicked, the others’ faces just as startled as her’s. “No sacrifices!”

“So then… we may proceed with the dance?”

“That is a better alternative.”

The dance continued with more swift movements and a spin before Munetoe bowed, the Arusians bowing with her. The king then pulled Allura into a conversation while the padawans fanned out with the Arusians into their own conversations. Captain Burner, thoroughly put off by the tiny aliens, moved his way through them until reaching Shiro, “Sir, my men need a compatible piece of Galra technology to access the cruisers database.”

Shiro nodded, “Alright. Allura,” the Knight and padawans turned their heads, “I’ll be in the cruiser, com. me if you need to.”

He followed Burner to the disabled Galra ship, making sure his com. unit was set to the right frequency. The cruiser was in fairly good condition considering it had crashed and partially exploded. The bridge consol was in good conditions, albeit powerless, making Shiro thankful for the first time that his arm was Galra. His arm activated, the internal wiring and bonding points lighting up a bright purple as he placed his hand on the consol. Almost immediately holoscreens appeared over the dashboard, Galra sygnia on each screen.

“Any idea what you’re looking for?”

“Hopefully the reason the Galra sent a single cruiser to hold the whole planet hostage,” Burner said. Another clone, Tinker Shiro remembered his name was, began to scan through the Galra database as he downloaded the files. It would take a few moments to complete the download, half a varga at most. Shiro was only grateful this wasn’t the old F-86 model. That took hours to transfer anything.

“Sir,” Dublejoint called. “We’re picking up an incoming object.”

“Republic ship?”

“No sir, it’s not one of ours. It’s falling too fast.”

A deafening _boom_ sounded as something broke through the atmosphere. Through the broken window Shiro could see something falling, almost like a meteorite, at a frightening speed towards them. Alarm exploded in Shiro, “Move! Back to the village!”

Tinker gaped at him, “Sir, the download isn’t complete.”

“I’m sorry, soldier, it’s not worth your lives.” Shiro moved his hand away from the dashboard and took off, running with the clones as far as he could from the cruiser just before the meteor struck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the Arusians they are adorable.
> 
> [edit: I changed Allura's fighting scene to fit better with the current storyline; changes will happen to it in the future]


	17. The Gladiator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new threat appears

They felt the ripples of the impact from the village. The blast threw down Arusians and Jedi and clones alike, gusts of wind and dust and bits of debris blowing out torches and the bonfire, rattling the homes and ships. Nothing was damaged, beyond repair at least, and no one was injured by the blast.

Hunk pushed himself up with a groan, “What the heck was that?”

“Meteor?” suggested Lance, rubbing the back of his head.

Pidge shook her head, “Not big enough. It landed too close to the village, and the blast back from a meteor would have been worse.”

“Whatever it was it landed by the cruiser,” Allura pushed herself up from the ground, and pulled out her comm unit, “Shiro. Shiro do you read me?”

There was a moment of silence before a fuzzled voice answered. It wasn’t Shiro.

“ _General Shirogane is unconscious, sir. He had to hold the worst of the impact back so that it wouldn’t hit us._ ”

“Are you all alright?” Allura asked. “Did everyone make it?”

Captain Burner’s voice was static for a tick, “ _We lost Qwil, Skecher, and Howler. Dublejoint, Freer and myself are fine._ ”

Allura let out a sigh of relief before asking, “Do you know what fell?”

“ _Some kind of transport, General. Military grade armoring, but no weaponry as far as we can tell._ ”

“Alright Captain. Stay where you are. We will be there shortly.” Allura clipped the comm.unit back to belt and looked to her padawans, “Let’s go.”

* * *

Shiro woke up on his back, he head in Dublejoint lap. The clone had taken his helmet off, his hair shaved and a small tattoo under his ear, and he was looking over his shoulder and speaking to someone Shiro couldn’t see. Rolling his head over brought a short wave of dull pain to the back of his head, and Shiro groaned.

Dublejoint looked down at him before calling out, “Captain. He’s awake.”

“What happened?” Shiro asked, holding his aching head as he sat up. He must have blacked out after the explosion- Shiro jolted, “Are you okay? Did everyone make it?”

Dublejoint’s eyes fell and he shook his head, “I’m sorry sir, but we lost Qwil, Howler, and Skecher. You blocked the worst of the impact, but there wasn’t anything we could do to help them.”

That was… not unexpected, Howler had been hit by a flying boulder, and Qwil and Skecher had been the last ones out of the cruiser. That didn’t mean it hurt any less.

“Alright,” Shiro took a deep breath. “Do you know what fell?”

“Some kind of pod, we think. Though it’s Galra made and hasn’t dispatched any sentries so far.”

Giving Dublejoint a nod, Shiro looked around to the fallen transport. The pod stood out in the small crater it had created, stuck in the earth and smoking. It didn’t look like any Galra pod Shiro had seen, larger and bulkier than a standard model. It stood upright as opposed to sideways, and lacked any type of hatch to exit from.

“Shiro!” a familiar voice cried out. The Knight looked over and saw the small group of Jedi running towards him and the clone troopers. They all looked alright, Keith looked worried and Allura glanced at the pod suspiciously. The other padawans, Lance and Hunk and Pidge, looked startled. Shiro could feel confusion and curiosity from all of them. Keith asked him, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. What about you guys? Is the village okay?”

“The village is fine.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lance asked with a raised eyebrow. He pointed at his nose, “You’re kind of bleeding.”

Shiro’s hand touched between his nose and upper lip, his fingers coming away with bits of blood. He frowned, “Must have happened when I was pushing back the shockwave. We need to contact the Senate and let them know about the Galra pod.”

Not a tick after the words left Shiro’s lips a hissing noise sounded, and steam began to pour from the pods opening front hatch. The door fell off the pod, sinking into the earth as it released more smoke. A sense of life washed over the Jedi as a single form breached the smoke, a massive boot stepping out of the pod followed quickly by the rest of the beast.

The being wasn’t so much a monster but an armored alien. Massive and heavy in dark purple armor decorated with a crystal in the middle of the chest and a thick helmet over his head with a spike at the brow, covering two vastly different eyes. One Galra yellow with horizontal slits, and the other wide with cat-like pupils and glowing a bright purple. The weapon in the aliens hand caught Shiro’s eye and he heard a roar of a crowd at the back of his head.

_Cheering and screaming filled his ears. A weight in his hand. Panting. Bright purple and buzzing flying at him-_

“Shiro?”

The images vanished and Shiro blinked back into reality. Keith’s hand was on his shoulder, he and the others looking at him with worried expressions. A pang of guilt hits Shiro, he hadn’t meant to zone out like that, he’d been getting better with flashbacks since his meetings with Master Yoda.

He made to apologise when something caught his attention. A sense of impending danger followed quickly by a buzzing noise.

“Get down!” He grabbed Keith and pulled him to the ground, pushing Pidge and Hunk down with the force. Allura quickly grabbed Lance and pulled him down, the clones dropping just as fast. Above them an orb of crackling purple energy sailed through the air, swinging back towards the massive brute.

Lance shot up with a look of panicked confusion, “What the quiznak was that!?”

“Orb! Flying deadly orb!” yelled Hunk as he rolled over and pushed himself up.

Alarm sparks in the Force, everyone save Shiro not understanding and not knowing what to expect.

“Find cover,” he tells them. They break off to the nearest pieces of debris, just as the orb comes around once more and the alien bellows. Allura pulled both Hunk and Pidge down as the orb collided with the sheet of metal they hid behind. It dented the metal before flying back to the monsters - _Myzax_ \- staff.

Shiro shut his eyes, forcing away the impending flashback. Now was not the time. He needed to focus, Allura and the clones needed him to focus. His padawans needed him to focus.

“How the hell are we supposed to fight this thing?” cried Lance.

Freer gestured his blaster. “I say we put a hole in that monster’s head and walk out of here with our own in tact.”

Shiro shook his head, “That won’t work.” _He threw a bit of the pillar in hopes to stun the gladiator, only for it to bounce off with a_ ‘tink’ _. Even with the Force pushing the debris, it had only made a small dent in the armor._

“Are you positive, sir?”

“He’s wearing Galra-made heavy battle armor. You would need a tank if you wanted to cause any fire damage.” The orb returned and hit the plating Shiro, Lance, Keith, and Freer hid behind. They all flinched as the metal sunk in around the orb before it bounced back-

_“You have a choice, Jedi,” Shiro looked down at Matt as the Galra spoke. “Submit yourself to the empire, or watch you young friend test his mettle in the arena.”_

_Shiro hated it. Hated the Galra, hated every-_ quiznaking- _thing that had lead up to this. Matt wouldn’t survive an arena [Shiro hadn’t even been aware the Galra had gladiator pits]. Professor Holt had been sent away to a work camp, far from Shiro’s protection. Matt was still here though, still within Shiro’s ability to protect and he’d be damned if he couldn’t save one of his charges. His friends. Shiro submitted._

_“Take him to the arena.”_

“Shiro, come on man don’t blank out on us!”

Lance was shaking his shoulder with a worried look on his face. “You okay now?”

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. He needs to focus. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just remembered somethings.”

“Incoming!”

Shiro pulled Lance down to the ground with Keith and Freer as the orb collided with the side of the sheeting. It dented the mental and push on until the cover fell over, exposing them to Myzax. Freer was instantly on his feet and sent a blast aimed to Myzax’s head, only for it to ricochet off his helmet.

“Worth a shot,” he muttered.

“Think we could bounce it back with our lightsabers?” asked Lance, preparing his weapon.

Shiro wasn’t too sure. He couldn’t remember how he had beaten Myzax and he couldn’t remember anything specific about the orb’s makeup. Although it is a solid, so depending on the material it was made of a lightsaber should be able to hold it back. It was just a matter of the force behind it.

He readied his own lightsaber, “Just be careful. If it feels like too much, go down and let it roll of the blade.” He looked at Freer, speaking to him and the other clones, “Aim for his joints and connecting point in the armor. Try and find a weakness.”

Keith took off towards Myzax, ducking under the staff as it swung out at him and skidding close enough to slash out at Myzax’s leg. The sword hit and sparks flew as it dragged across the armor, leaving a broken line and exposing a minor part of Myzax’s calf. The gladiator bellowed as Keith rolled away and out of arm’s reach, giving Freer and Dublejoint and Burner the opportunity to open fire. The blasts did little more than hold Myzax back and he swung his staff again sending the orb flying towards the clones.

Before the orb could hit Dublejoint, Hunk jumped in front of him with his lightsaber drawn, intent on deflecting the orb. The moment it hit the yellow blade Hunk swung out, changing the orbs trajectory.

“It’s just like speedball!” he cried out with a grin.

Lance smiled widely and held his lightsaber like a beater, “Now we’re talking.”

The Jedi and clones spread out around Myzax, Pidge and Allura mimicking Lance and Hunk’s stances and ready to swing the orb back at Myzax. Keith shot back under Myzax’s arm, and Shiro took his chance. He took a step to dash-

_He’d managed to grab the sword but what good would it be if he couldn’t get close enough to hit him. The orb hit the pillar, kicking off dust and debris. Shiro wanted to scream. This was all wrong, none of this was right! None of this should be here! It shouldn’t exist! Where the hell was the honor is slaughter? Where was the honor is sending people to their deaths for the entertainment of others? This wasn’t the Galra way he knew! Why did Zarkon allow this to exist!?_

_The orb came around again, this time knocking too close and forcing Shiro to roll away from his hiding spot and out into the open arena. He wants nothing more than to attack the doors he was thrown from, pull them out and throw them half-way into the stands of bloodthirsty Galra (since when were they so hungry for violence?), and cut and Force his way through to the prisoners cells and free all of them. He wants nothing more, as he just barely dodges another swing of the orb, to find Matt and Sam Holt and go home._

_Shiro is ready for the fourth swing but, for some reason, the gladiator stalls. Years of training to read his enemy doesn’t allow this weakness to go unnoticed. The orb is made of some kind of alchemic energy. The staff must act as its container, its port to recharge at. If Shiro can get close enough and waits for the perfect moment-_

Someone cries out in pain and Shiro is sent tumbling to the side with a weight on top of him. Shiro jolts back into reality quick enough to recognize Lance had body-checked him. Lance, who was probably the one who cried out and was now on the ground clutching his arm and side and gasping in pain.

“Lance!”

Shiro was at Lance’s side in seconds, delicately helping the younger man sit up. “Are you okay? What happened?"

Allura moved in front of them and threw back the orb when it came too close. “You paused and wouldn’t respond to anyone. The orb would have hit you if Lance hadn’t pushed you out of the way.

Cursing silently at his padawan’s recklessness, Shiro made sure Lance was alright, gently touching his side and arm. There was no blood or obvious injury aside from some dark bruising, but Lance did gasp when he touched his ribs and bicep.

“Ow, ow, ow! Careful.”

Fractured ribs (maybe two) and arm. Not good, also not as bad as it could have been. Shiro looked over at the clones. “Freer! Get Lance behind a barricade.” He looked to Allura, “There’s a weakness to Myzax’s staff. Every third throw it needs to recharge and gives us an opening.”

Shiro helped Lance to his feet as easily as he could and held him as Freer hooked Lance’s good arm over his shoulder. The two huttled away behind a large panel, Freer offering Lance some words of praise, and Shiro moved back to join the others, activating his lightsaber.

The tick the orb returned to the staff Keith and Pidge attacked Myzax’s legs, each of them cutting deep into the Galra’s thighs and forcing him to his knee with a scream. As Myzax fell the orb went flying towards the clones, Lance and Freer included, only for Hunk to deflect it back at Myzax once again.

Allura and Shiro followed after the orb in a sprint, Allura cutting the staff in half once she was close enough, and Shiro used Myzax’s moment of shock to impale his lightsaber straight through the crystal and into Myzax’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took FOR-FREAKING-EVER to write and for that I apologise. Lost my mojo for a while there and now I'm in the middle of exams so it will be a while more before I update again. Good news is that the next chapter will be all around good feels and some lighthearted conversation regarding a few loose ends.
> 
> But hey! Some backstory on Shiro's time as a POW with Matt! More on that later ;)
> 
> Again, I am so sorry this took forever. Feel free to yell at me in the comments.


	18. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Certain things come to light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW BOUT THEM NEW EPISODES EHH???? This is super late and super not great but it's something I've wanted to get out of the way for a while now so HEY! Why not update in honor of Voltrons update?

“You know, that has to be one of the easiest fights we’ve ever had.”

“We were nearly blasted out of the atmosphere, had to fight our way through an army of battle droids, and take down a Galra monster armed with a weapon that could damage doonium and nearly killed you. What part of that was easy?”

“The part where you didn’t do anything, that’s where!”

“I slashed Myzax’s legs, twice!”

Pidge looked at her friends with a small smile on her face, her mind still racing. Two hours ago she and the other Jedi, along with the surviving clones, had returned to the Arusian village victorious. Albeit a bit bruised and in Lance’s case with a fractured arm and rib to which a local medicine Arusian applied a green paste that made Lance look like he was going Hulk. Once her masters told the Arusian chief the invading Galra creature, Myzax (apparently a gladiator from when Shiro was a Galra prisoner), had been defeated the Chief had been elated and commanded a celebration that included a bonfire (not the sacrificial kind), dancing (not of apology), and a feast of various foods and fruits (Arus produced little meat foodstuffs).

Pidge’s own fruit reminded her slightly of Corellian apples, albeit a tad sweeter like a jybbuk-fruit. And blue. A very bright blue not unlike the colour of Lance’s lightsaber. Which would be super relaxing given that Lance’s choice in lightsaber colour was the most soothing if Pidge’s mind wasn’t flashing back to the conversation she had with Shiro not five minutes ago.

* * *

 

_ “Why didn’t you tell me you were Matt’s sister?” _

_ If Pidge was being honest, she’d been expecting this. For a while now, actually. She has been Shiro’s padawan for nearly three months now and at some point he  _ must _ have realised who she was. _

_ “I… It wasn’t something I wanted you to know.” There was no point in lying. Against a Jedi Knight, her Master, Shiro would be able to tell she was lying easily. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I know Jedi aren’t supposed to keep secrets from the Order, but I didn’t want the Council to think I would prioritise looking for Matt and my father over the Order… I mean, I do. But I still want to be a Jedi, so I had to lie and hide it from you and Allura and the Council, which I am sorry for but Shiro,” she looked him in the eye, “even if you tell the Council, I won’t stop. I’m not going to stop looking for them. They’re my family.” _

_ She meant it. Every word. She loved being a Jedi, she loved her friends and her masters, she loved helping and saving races that were in danger. But she loved her family and was more than willing to risk having to give up being a Jedi to keep up the search. She felt awful that she’d lied to Shiro and Allura, but she needed to find her father and brother and if that meant deceiving her teachers and her friends and the Order, then so be it. If Shiro got mad with her, if he had pulled her aside to tell her he was disappointed in her and she was expelled from the Order, Pidge could take it. _

_ But Shiro was looking at her in a way Pidge hadn’t expected. There was no sign of frustration or anger. Not a hint of betrayal and hurt at being lied to for selfish reasons. Pidge saw none of that on Shiro’s face. He was looking at her with fondness and sympathy, a small smile on his lips and a far away look in his eyes as he looked back towards the others. _

_ “Your secret’s safe with me.” _

* * *

 

“Well I saved Shiro from a flying orb of death. Which makes me the better padawan so  _ there _ !”

“I wasn’t trying to be better! I was following the plan.”

“You’re just mad because I won.”

“It’s not a competition guys,” Hunk sighed.

Pidge didn’t understand, which she hated. She had asked Huyang almost a hundred different questions about the aspects that went into building a lightsaber, ranging from the microscopic makeup of a kyber crystal to how different frequencies of light from the emitter matrix would affect the inevitable burst of an inverted matrix. Science and technology she understood, people were too complicated.

She’s known Shiro for nearly six months now. From what she had witnessed he was a pretty straight laced Jedi who was almost as devoted to the Order as Master Windu. Hell, when the Council had assigned Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Keith to be Shiro’s padawans he had been shocked. A Jedi only took one padawan at a time and being assigned four went against Jedi teachings. Shiro had been shaken at the thought of breaking that norm (although in retrospect Pidge probably would have been too if she’d suddenly been told to teach four novices in the middle of a war). Shiro followed the rules, so why was he so willing to break the Council’s trust?

Then again Shiro had proved himself to be  _ quite _ secretive himself. He rarely spoke about his time as a padawan, and when they’d asked about his master before he’d given them vague answers. He was keeping his apprenticeship a secret… which Pidge couldn’t actually blame him for.

* * *

 

_ “Why are you asking me about this now?” _

_ They took a seat on a overturned tree and Shiro shrugged, “My memory’s been somewhat spotty since I escaped the Galra. I get flashbacks, and seeing Myzax again cleared up some memories that were a bit hazy. The haircut helped a lot though.” He side eyed her with a smirk, then looked over to the others. “They talked about you alot. Matt and your dad.” _

_ “What did they say?” _

_ Shiro eyed her for a second, “Your dad was very proud to have such a brilliant daughter. He was always so use you’d end up as the head of Research and Development in the best research base in the galaxy.” _

_ That sounded like dad. She’d always straight gone to him after a question popped into her head or she finished another project. “And Matt?” _

_ “He swore you had a precognition mutation. He’d make jokes that when we got back to the Republic you’d already know everything they’d discovered and treat it like it was grade school homework.” _

_ Pidge smiled, “Guess he was right about one thing. Being Force sensitive could technically count as a mutation.” _

_ That earned a genuine laugh out of Shiro. Short, but still more relaxed than Pidge had ever seen him. “But if we’re all for telling the truth now,” Pidge’s smile dropped, “than maybe I’m not the only one who should be completely honest.” _

_ Shiro’s smile faded into confusion. “What do you mean?” _

_ “When were you going to tell us you were Zarkon’s padawan?” _

_ The confusion vanished, replaced by wide eyes and disbelief. “How do you-?” _

_ “When Sendak attacked us, the Galra who was with him said he expected more from someone learning from Zarkon’s apprentice. Lance told me. Plus there was the whole thing with Hondo and that Galra Thatch guy.” She heard Shiro mutter “Thace”, but ignored it. “After Sendak I started looking for anything about your and Allura’s padawan years whenever you sent us to the archives.” _

_ Shiro frowned, “You told me you finished the readings.” _

_ “We did. They were boring and repeated themselves a lot. I found some stuff about Master Gallia and some stuff about Allura’s padawan years came up, but I couldn’t find anything about you. I asked Master Jocasta if there were any other archives, but she told us you had placed them under restriction.” _

_ She looked Shiro in the eye again, “I think you owe us an explanation.” _

* * *

 

After that they’d gone back to the village, Shiro promising he would tell her and the others about it before leaving to talk to Allura and Captain Burner. Pidge had rejoined the padawans, grabbed a blue fruit, and taken a seat on the ground next to Lance. Now all she had to do was wait until Shiro finished his conversation with Allura and the captain so he could finally explain himself to them.

“Pidge? Hey. Piidggge… earth to Pidge!” someone yelled in her ear.

She looked beside her at Hunk, the boy and the others all looking at her curiously.

“What?”

“I asked if everything was cool between you and Shiro. He didn’t pull you aside to chew you out on anything did he?”

“Shiro wouldn’t do that,” said Keith.

“Then why’d he only talk to Pidge, huh?”

Keith shrugged in response and took a bite of his fruit. Hunk grinned in victory, “Exactly! So what did he say to you?”

“Why do you care?” Pidge asked in return.

“I’m a curious guy.”

“Well it’s none of your business so leave it alone.”

Hunk held up his hands in surrender. “Alright. No offence taken or anything, didn’t mean to push. I just wanted to know if he gave you like, any Jedi pointers or anything special like a super technique only  _ makashi _ fighters could use.”

“Nothing like that, I’m afraid.”

The padawans all looked over the fire at their masters, Shiro and Allura standing before them with calm expressions on their faces. Pidge did get the sense of hostility off of Allura, though. What it was aimed at was anyone’s guess.

Shiro looked over all of them, “There’s something I need to tell you all.”

* * *

 

They’d slowly been putting the pieces together over the months, a few key word choices here, some actions and abilities there. It didn’t take much thought to come up with an answer. All they just needed confirmation to their theory.

Zarkon had been Shiro’s master. The emperor of the leading enemy against the Republic used to be a Jedi Master. He’d trained Shiro for over a decade (in retrospect Shiro’s brutal fighting style made more sense now), and according to Shiro and Allura he had betrayed the Jedi and murdered Allura’s father, King Alfor of Altea.

“Why didn’t you just tell us?” asked Keith. He wanted to know why the information had been kept from them by someone he trusted. They all did. Shiro had lied to them.

Shiro sighed, a sense of shame surrounding him in the Force, “I wanted to tell you when I thought the time was right. But we haven’t had any down time since Corellia, and with the war going on there hadn’t been any time to tell you properly.” His eyes glanced at Pidge before returning to the group, “But it’s come to my attention that now was as good a time as any.”

The boys all looked to Pidge in sudden understanding. She’d told him they knew.

Lance pressed his lips, “I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re glad you finally told us, but there’s still a lot we couldn’t figure out. Why would the Order let someone like Zarkon become a Jedi in the first place? You’d think Master Windu would speak out against letting a world conquering lunatic join the Order.”

The shame around Shiro shifted to match his irritated glare, “He wasn’t always like this. Zarkon used to be a great jedi. He was loyal and strong and dedicated to protecting the galaxy. He was a good teacher.”

“What happened?” asked Hunk.

Shiro glanced at Allura, who shook her head, then rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m not really sure. After I got back from a mission with another master they told me Zarkon and an alchemist had been in an accident. The original report declared them both dead, yet they somehow weren’t. Hours after the accident they told me my master had betrayed the Order, that he had killed King Alfor and fled Coruscant. It… it was difficult to take…”

“How could it have been so hard to understand?” Keith didn’t get it. Zarkon was attacking innocent planets and populations, conquering more of the Outer and Middle Rim each day. “Zarkon is a dictator, he’s out there right now overtaking planets and controlling the Separatists. You had to have known something.”

Shiro shook his head. “I’ve known Zarkon since I was eleven. I trained under him for twelve years and knew him better than any other Jedi in the Order. I knew he wasn’t a killer.”

Lance looked from Shiro to Allura, who was keeping terribly silent, and asked, “What happened?”

“The accident had been reported to Alfor, prompting his presences on Diabazaal,” Shiro continued. “Back then, King Alfor and Zarkon were close allies and friends. Alfor was also Altea’s top alchemist and was working with the alchemist caught in the accident, an Altean woman named Honerva.” There was a small break in Shiro’s voice at the name, but he didn’t stop to explain it. “I wanted to go and investigate. I thought that maybe the Order just didn’t have the full story, that it was all a misunderstanding and if I could talk to Zarkon and find out what had happened I could help. But the Council wouldn’t have it.”

Melancholy hung in the air around the padawans as they processed the information. Keith’s voice was soft, “They thought you knew about it.”

Shiro nodded, “Master Yoda and Windu questioned me about it. They wanted to know if I knew my master had been planning to betray the Order, if I was planning to betray them as well. I didn’t know anything about the betrayal. My master had been growing high strung and impatient, his ambitions were driving him more than he should have let them, but I had just assumed it had something to do with Diabazaal. The Council pressed him about choosing his throne or the Order plenty of times and each time he’d only get more frustrated with them.

There were some things that should have warned me, I suppose. Zarkon had me keep secrets from the Order, to follow him even against the Council. But I trusted him. I trusted him more than anyone so I never questioned him. I never needed to. When Master Yoda told me what Zarkon had done it didn’t make any sense to me…” Shiro’s eyes scanned the grass. “It still doesn’t.”

The padawans were silent. It was a lot to take in. at least Pidge understood now why Shiro was so okay with keeping her family secret from the Council; it wouldn’t be the first secret he kept.

“Why isn’t this in the archives?” she asked. When she and Hunk had gone digging through the archives in search of any information about Shiro’s padawan years they hadn’t found anything regarding Zarkon other than the bare minimum: king of Diabazaal; military superpower; ex-ally of Galactic Republic and Altean Coalition.

Shiro sighed, “The Republic has all reports of the accident on lock down. Any information the Order had was handed over as evidence to the case the Investigator had been putting together.”

“Well if Zarkon was such a great guy before the accident than something must have happened to make him snap.” Lance crossed his arms. “Not that it matters, to be honest. He’s still a world enslaving tyrant. Can’t exactly help him now that he’s attacking Republic planets.”

The padawans and Allura all nodded in agreement. There wasn’t much they could do to save a man who was bent on conquering the galaxy other than stop him. Shiro shoulders hitched and his arms crossed as he stared at the ground. “Yeah. Can’t really help him now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes about this chapter: Pidge and Shiro really needed some quality bonding time and since secret keeping in Shiro's thing in this AU they can bond over looking for Sam and Matt together. (I do plan on having other bonding moments with the other kids)
> 
> Allura doesn't really talk in this chapter because the focus is pretty much on Shiro finally telling them all what his master used to be like (I took inspiration from canon Paladin!Zarkon) and Pidge being very confused as to why her master/friend is okay with straight up lying to his bosses.
> 
> also some notes on Shiro:  
> 1) when Zarkon went crazy-bonkers and killed Alfor, Shiro was about 22/23 years old, so very close to the end of his training. After Zarkon defected and Shiro was no longer a suspect he applied to take the Knight challenges and became an official Jedi Knight.
> 
> 2) because the Voltron Lions don't exist in this AU I have refurbished Shiro into a combination of hims canon self and the Black Lion; his bond with Zarkon was based strongly around trust, and when Zarkon does his betrayal Shiro/Black Lion is not there to witness it or the accident that killed Zarkon and Honerva.
> 
> 3) Shiro was more or less raised by Zarkon in this AU, so his fighting style is naturally more brutal than in the show. whether that's due to my own headcanon of Zarkon being an overprotective, if-you-don't-know-how-to-defend-yourself-you're-gonna-die kind of dad figure or because of his time in the arena is anyones guess.
> 
> If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment! I will be back!


	19. Revelations Pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura tells the padawans all they need to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am on fire with these updates! This chapter is extra long because I got a bit carried away with Shiro backstory. There are some parts I wanted to add but the chapter would have been way too long then, so I had to crop out some stuff.
> 
> Next update should be soon, assuming the Writers Block curse doesn't strike me down.
> 
> Enjoy!

It’s a lot to take in, Hunk decides.

Leaving Arus well guarded by a Republic cruiser the Jedi had returned to Coruscant for a rebreather period. They’d earned it.

The journey home is awkward to say the least. The padawans still have so many questions to ask Shiro, but it was pretty obvious their master wasn’t in the mood to share any more. Which was fair. Hunk probably wouldn’t want to talk much (or at all) if his old boss was a genocidal maniac now. So he and the others had left him alone for the most part, occasionally going to him for a bit of advice on stances or when they all just hung out in the living quarters.

Getting back to the temple had almost immediately prompted Pidge to make a break for the archives room. She had waited until Shiro and Allura had gone off on their own before sneaking out of the dorms, not wanting to tip off their masters about her raging curiosity about Shiro’s training. They’d all reacted differently after Shiro had told them he had been Zarkon’s padawan. Keith was just about as curious as Pidge and had practically been on her heels the tick she left the room, Lance chasing after them as to not be left behind, where as Hunk was still utterly baffled by how Shiro, their all-around good hearted, kindhearted and protective master/friend, could have ever been associated with someone like Zarkon.

So when Pidge had made her break for the archives, Keith and Lance right behind her, Hunk had been forced to followed after them.

“Doesn’t anyone else feel this is super invasive?” he said out loud as they walked through the archive room. “Shouldn’t we have Shiro’s permission before we go looking into his private records?  _ Can _ we even look at them? Didn’t he have Master Kenobi put them all in the vault? Like, the vault only members of the Council are allowed into?”

Pidge shrugged, “Technically yes, only Jedi Masters are allowed access to the holocron vault and yes Shiro have a Council member put it in the vault. But we’re going to take the holocron anyways.”

“See, now doesn’t that sound like a very bad idea to anyone else? You want to steal from the Holocron Vault, which is stealing from the Jedi Order by the way, and look through it to find out information about Shiro that he doesn’t want us to know about. So we’re stealing from the Order we belong to, going against our master’s back to invade his privacy, and assuming we can even activate the holocron, snooping around information Shiro specifically cut the world off from until he’s ready to tell us about it because of curiosity. Am I the  _ only one _ who has a problem with this?”

“If you really had a problem with it why don’t you go find Shiro and tell him?”

Hunk shot Pidge glare before looking at Lance. “You agree with me on this right?”

He’d seen Lance’s reaction to people going through his things, especially his face cream and skin care products. But the guilty look in his eyes as Lance played with his braid betrayed him. “Yeah, a little. I wouldn’t want people going through my stuff without me knowing, but… I still want to know more about him. Aren’t you just a little curious?”

“Of course I am! We just found out our friend used to learn from Zarkon like two days ago! I want to know more just as much as you guys, just preferably on better terms. Shiro trusts us and I don’t want to mess that up by going behind his back on something.”

Ahead of them Pidge stopped in front of a dilating security door. They’d made it to the Holocron Vault.

She studied the locking mechanism intensely, looking for any possible way she could either hack the door open with the Force. The blueprints she’d found were complicated, with no physical key or combination to unlock the doors and avoid the traps behind it. Only someone who knew how to unlock it with the Force could enter. And that was a very short list restricted to members of the Council.

“If we know more about Zarkon than maybe we can figure out a way to stop him,” Keith said. “The Order won’t tell us anything and neither will the Republic. I don’t like this anymore than you do, Hunk, but if it means saving the galaxy than I’d do it. We have to look at the big picture.”

_ That still doesn’t mean we have to do this _ , Hunk thought.

“How does this thing work, anyway?” Lance looked at the doors with a raised brow.

“You need to unlock it with the Force,” explained Pidge, “and turn the tumblers until they click into place. Which would be pretty easy if there weren’t two layers of combinations to unlock so the security measures don’t set off and blow our cover.”

A new voice interrupted Pidge, “Which you are all doing by simply standing there.”

The padawans jumped and turned around to see Allura with her arms crossed in anger. She glared at each of them, radiating disappointment and fury.

“I cannot believe you four would just ignore Shiro’s privacy and disobey his order to stay away from his holocron. Do any of you have any idea how many breeches of trust you have committed to both Shiro and the Order?”

“We need to know more about Zarkon.” Keith spoke, unafraid. “Neither you or Shiro will tell us anything other than we need to stop him. We barely even know what he looks like, other than he’s Galra.”

Allura didn’t look very convinced, “If you want to know more about Zarkon than you need only ask me or anyone else about him. You don’t need to break into the Holocron Vault to learn about that monster.”

“Okay, then tell us.”

Allura looked at Pidge, was looked back determined.

“You tell us about Shiro’s training. About Zarkon. Tell us what’s so personal that Shiro had to lock it away in the vault.”

They all looked to Allura, Hunk very grateful for an alternative to stealing from the Order, for an answer. She looked them over and Hunk could feel her feeling out their Force signatures. Whatever it was she wouldn’t find it, they all wanted answers, they wanted to know more about more than just Zarkon. They wanted to know more about their master, about their friend, about Shiro.

Allura sighed, “You’re not going to give this up, are you?”

None of them answered and her shoulders slumped in defeat. Allura rubbed her eyes, “Alright, fine. Just give me one dobosh.”

She shooed Pidge away from the lock and put her hand over it, willing the gears to turn back and around and back again until the security doors opened and she walked into the vault. Hunk and the others didn’t know whether to follow her into the room or not, although it hardly mattered. Allura was back outside the vault in less than a dobosh, holocron in hand.

“We need to find a private room.”

* * *

 

Allura had them gather around a communication’s table in a data room near the very top of the temple. Her reasoning being that Shiro was taking some time to meditate with Master Yoda in the chapel, a room farthest from where she could show the younglings their answers. The room was quiet and soundproof, the door locked from the inside to indicate its being in use.

“I can only show you a few things on the holocron,” she said as she connected the device to the table, “Shiro took an extra precaution to lock some of the information to a memory crystal, so only a part of the holocron is accessible.”

“Why would he lock part of it down?” asked Pidge. “The holocron was already under quarantine. What’s the point in locking only part of it?”

Allura shook her head, “I don’t completely understand it either. But Shiro put quite some thought into keeping his secrets hidden. Even from me.”

“You guys were close?” Hunk asked with a raise brow. Allura nodded and a hologram appeared in the middle of the table. It was a group image depicting several younglings, no more than nine at most, standing in rows with two master at the sides. They were all smiling and wearing similar light robes, but two of the younglings in the middle caught the padawans’ attention.

A young Allura and Shiro were beaming at the camera, arm in arm and caught in the middle of a laugh. It was adorable. Allura’s hair was loose and her curls hung down her back, some of them sticking out to the sides like someone had taken their fingers and messed with it. Probably Shiro judging by the laugh on his little face. His own hair, no undercut and short bangs, was just as messy.

“Whenever a Force sensitive child is born they are added to a list for the Order to keep watch over. Once they turn five years of age a Jedi Master will approach their families to collect the child and bring them to the temple to being training.” Allura told them.

That didn’t sit well with Hunk, “The Jedi just break up families? What if the parents don’t want to let their kid go? What if the kid doesn’t want to leave?”

“They do have the choice, Hunk. If a family isn’t ready to let their child go than the Order does leave them with a communication device should the child’s abilities start to become overwhelming. Then they are taken to the Temple. Shiro and myself were both collected when we were five. The Order also does not completely cut a youngling off from their families, and it is common for either a youngling to go visit their home or for their families to come to Coruscant.

At the age of eleven younglings are chosen by a Jedi Master or Knight to begin their padawan training.”

Another hologram replaced the younglings, two older but recognizable preteens standing beside their master. Shiro and Allura looked almost identical to how they looked now (minus of course Shiro’s white hair and scar and arm), sporting short braids in their hair and lightsabers on their belts. Allura stood next to Master Gallia, the Tholothian woman looking content as her padawan stood so proud and happy. Shiro looked the exact opposite of his friend.

Standing next Zarkon, Shiro looked like a dwarf. Granted he and Allura were eleven and eleven year olds hadn’t hit puberty yet, but it was still pretty weird to see Shiro, a man now taller than anyone in the room, look like the equivalent of Master Yoda standing on his feet. Hunk didn’t think kid Shiro even reached Zarkon’s waist.

He looked nervous, his shoulders hitched and his hands clenched as he awkwardly smiled. Hunk didn’t blame him. Zarkon was a very,  _ very _ intimidating figure. At what must have been eight, nine (?), feet he stood over Master Gallia easily, and even in looser maroon and dark purple robes Hunk could see thick muscles and natural armor and claw-like hands. He looked calm though, his red iris’ over yellow sclera looking forward in an almost bored expression. A black lightsaber hilt hung at his side.

“I was chosen by Master Gallia to be her padawan, and Shiro was chosen by Zarkon to be his.”

“Master’s choose their padawans? I thought they were assigned by the Council.” Pidge looked from the hologram to Allura, confusion on her face. “Shiro said the Council assigned us to be his padawans.”

Allura nodded, “Due to your unique integration into the Order the Council had to improvise with assigning you. You’d already begun learning from Shiro so it seemed fitting that he should continue your training. Were you all found earlier and been training from a young age things would have been different.”

“Why the heck did Zarkon chose Shiro as a padawan?” asked Lance. “Why would he even need someone to train? What, was he grooming Shiro to be just as evil as he is?”

“I don’t know why Zarkon chose Shiro, although the two of us came up with quite a few theories over the years. Most of them far fetched and childish. The best answer we could think of was that he, like Master Gallia, felt a similarity to the child they chose. That’s usually the case for most Jedi. As younglings we’re taught that being chosen by a Master Jedi for training was an honor, that it meant we could further our understanding of the universe and the Force. I was delighted when Master Gallia chose me. When Shiro was chosen, he had a bit of a panic.

For all that Zarkon was known to be a great Jedi and excellent general when called for, to nearly every youngling in the Temple he was terrifying.”

Hunk fully agreed, “Yeah I get that.”

Allura smiled before returning to the hologram, “He was incredibly tall and broad and had a imposing look. Younglings in the temple are taught about all the different species and planets in the galaxy, and from what we knew about Galra they are a primarily carnivorous species descended from various warrior tribes. Diabazaal, their home world, was known throughout the galaxy as a military power, so it was easy to imagine the Galra Jedi as a brutish person.”

Lance sneered, “Bet he had Shiro do all these really awful things the second he chose him as padawan. Makes me pretty empathetic towards kid Shiro if he had to put up with that every day.”

The smile on Allura’s face faded. “Actually, according to Shiro he was just like any other Master Jedi. Similar to Master Windu when it came to things such as diplomacy and etiquette and following orders. He had nothing against interactions between guests and servants, but preferred that everyone allow the staff to do their jobs in peace. Shiro would describe him as a stern teacher dedicated to his beliefs and wanted to keep the galaxy safe. But also kind and caring of those he was close to.”

Kid Shiro and Allura were replaced by another hologram of just Shiro and Zarkon, the former child practicing stances in what looked like mud on a forest planet. Hologram Shiro swung his lightsaber in the familiar motions of Nimen before turning quickly and performing a quick strike from Makashi, only to slip on the mud and earn an amused smirk from Zarkon. They must have been training on a slope near a hill, because the moment Shiro hit ground he began to slide away before completely vanishing off the edge of the hologram, chased after by a very startled and obviously panicked Galra.

It was kind of funny.

Allura watched the hologram fondly until her gaze dropped, like she had remembered a particularly unhappy event.

“Shiro was always so happy when he told me about the missions he went on with Zarkon, and I was just as happy to tell him about my own adventures. We were always ready for another assignment, for more training and challenges to overcome. We were always aware of the dangers we could face, of the dangers we  _ did _ face, but we never expected danger to come from someone we trusted.”

The hologram switched to one of Zarkon and Shiro, now closer to Pidge in age and sporting a very new and familiar looking scar across his face. Shiro looked tired and in pain, his right arm in a sling around his neck, his clothes burned randomly and bits torn apart. Zarkon wasn’t looking at him, in fact as the recording moved it seemed like he was intentionally avoid looking at Shiro as he spoke to Masters Blaytz, Trigel and Gyrgan.

By the looks of it Master Trigel had only just joined the conversation.

“ _ Alfor’s still speaking with the Epicanthix senator about what to do with Dux Pike. Senator’s Mothan and Stonk are going to testify against him, but they’ll need both you and Takashi there with them. _ ”

All the masters share a quick look at Shiro, who avoids their eyes but nods. “ _ Okay… _ ” he says before “ _ I’m going to go eat _ ” and leaves the group to head into what must be the temple. Zarkon follows him until he’s out of sight, a weird and unexpected look of concern and regret on his face.

Master Blaytz offers an awkward smile as he tried to lighten the mood, “ _ I take it things were worse than we thought? _ ”

Trigel elbows him with a glare, but Zarkon doesn’t comment on it immediately. His shoulders slump and he rubs his eyes in a way that reminds Hunk of Shiro.

“ _ I nearly killed him _ ” the Galra all but whispers. The masters shifted at Zarkon’s words, Master Blaytz’s eyes dropping to the ground, Trigel and Gyrgan sharing an uncomfortable look. The holograms words took the padawans by shock both by the confession and the fact that Zarkon sounded like he  _ cared _ . They looked to Allura for answers.

She continued the holoclip.

“ _ That wasn’t your fault, Zarkon. Dux Pike is the one to blame. He poisoned you and the senators and he is the one responsible for any actions you took. _ ”

“ _ Does that matter? If the dosage hadn’t been little enough for my body to burn through it I would have cut his head off. You’ve seen the scar. I’m shocked he hasn’t requested he be transferred to another master. _ ”

“ _ That might be a good sign. _ ” The masters looked to Gyrgan, who crossed his arms and looked towards the temple. “ _ If he doesn’t want to learn from someone new then that means he still trusts you. Even after everything that happened. _ ”

The clip ended there, leaving Hunk and his friends in silence to wrap their heads around what they just saw. Hunk didn’t know how to process all of this. He could understand Shiro trusting his master just like he and the others trusted Shiro. Trust was an important, if not the  _ most _ important, part of a relationship between padawans and their masters. And Shiro wouldn’t blame someone for something out of their control no matter the conditions. Hunk knew that if he went crazy because of some mind control juice and attacked Shiro, the Knight wouldn’t hold it against him.

“Zarkon gave Shiro his scar.”

Hunk’s eyes flashed to Keith, who was looking to Allura. Their master nodded and swapped the holoclip of the masters for a full body hologram of Zarkon. It wasn’t life sized, about three feet in height, but depicted Zarkon in his dark Jedi robes with his arms at his sides. Around him several smaller datanotes appeared, some looking like hand written and others typed, pointing at key points on the holograms body. Size and strength, weight, natural abilities and features, points about his fighting form, and a few other notes off to the sides.

“Zarkon was a master in the Juyo form of fighting,” explained Allura. “He trained under Master Kaltenecker,” a hologram of an elderly black and white hunched over alien with a tail and long ears appeared next to Zarkon, “a very old and very esteemed Jedi and one of the few Jedi who practiced the Juyo form. Since the First Jedi Purge it became the rarest form of lightsaber combat, and is regarded as a dangerously Sith-like style. In the right hands it can be used properly, but in Zarkon’s case it only gave him an advantage on anyone he fought.”

There was an edge of bitterness in Allura’s voice as she dismissed the holograms and ejected the holocron.

Hunk looked from the table to the holocron. “Wait, that’s it? What about what happened after Zarkon befected? Didn’t the Order go after him?”

Allura shook her head, “After Zarkon’s betrayal he returned to Daibazaal and wasn’t heard from again. The Republic received reports of missing persons and attacks a few years ago, but were being preoccupied by the Separatist movement and later the battle on Geonosis. The war broke out almost two years ago and since then the Order pledge to assist the Republic no one was able to make a direct attack on Zarkon. Daibazaal’s defences are too secure even now to make an attack to weaken the Galra.”

“What else is on the holocron?” Pidge asked. “Aren’t there any other files Shiro left open?”

“Some, although the information he didn’t touch is general knowledge for the most part. We’ve given you clearence to look into any information about the Galra the Republic has.” Allura admitted. She pocketed the holocron, “If you want to look through it again then ask me first, but it does not leave this room. Remember that these are Shiro’s personal files.”

Hunk wasn’t going to tell. None of them were. Allura had told them as much as she could and given them the ability to look through the notes themselves if they wanted to. That was more than enough on her part. Now Hunk and the others knew all about Shiro’s relationship with his old master (or at least as much as they could without a memory crystal). It also answered a lot of questions, such as why whenever Shiro talked about Zarkon Hunk felt a pang of uncertainty and confusion and guilt.

They left the data room quietly and followed Allura back to the common rooms. She stopped in front of their room and turned to face them.

“You should all take the rest of the day to rest. I know it’s a lot to understand, but try not to stress too much over what I told you. Shiro and I will be by later for dinner.”

She gave them a warm smile before leaving, and the padawans filed into their room to sit on the beds and floor. It was awkward to say the least. Hunk didn’t know what to say. What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to feel sympathy for the guy killing thousands of people and invading planets? Should he investigate the accident that caused Zarkon to go nuts? Should he sit Shiro down and tell him that he and the others went behind his back to look at his personal files?

Trying to think about what to do next was giving Hunk a headache. By the strained looks of thought his friends had they probably had the same problem.

Lance, bless him and his empathetic superpowers, managed to break the tension.

“Anyone else super creeped out by Zarkon’s smile?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my mind I picture Zarkon almost like he is/was in canon before he died. He was very Mace Windu-like but like if Mace and Anakin had a love child who said "fuck the rules" while simultaneously saying "laws govern our society". Also (I think) he was confirmed to be nine feet tall so all I can picture when I write kid Shiro is an actual toddler standing next to an adult person.
> 
> For anyone who has seen Season 6 I got the idea for Shiro's scar from how Keith got his scar; they're strikingly similar and I imagine Shiro got his when a heated blade or other weapon was too close to his face. Dux Pike is an actual Star Wars character, who is of course canonically evil and part of a species immune to the Jedi Mind Trick so I thought "it would be fun to have him order Zarkon to kill 15 year old Shiro ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯"
> 
> This is a three parter by the way. I am planning on finishing this episode up in another 5-10 chapters, depending on how much I want to include from both VLD and Clone Wars, but I am also planning on having more bonding moments featured in my accompanying fic [The Misadventures of Four Padawans and Two Knights](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10686786/chapters/23665068). I do take longer to update that because of how much time I have to divide between my work and this fic so please have patience.
> 
> Leave a comment or kudos, it will be very much appreciated.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	20. Need Your Opinion!

Hey everyone! I need your opinions on something I've been thinking about for a while now. I'm not too happy with how I placed this story in the Star Wars timeline, it was getting harder to fit it in what I wanted to and find a comfortable way to integrate canon material ( _certain_ material mind you) into the storyline; plot points from both shows and certain character developments and some special changes I was going to make to avoid any problematic canon material.

 

I'm not sure how many of you are still reading this but I want to get your opinions on restarting this series, this time starting at a point ten years into Galra rule instead of the Clone Wars. This would mean some things about the characters would change, specifically surrounding the weaponry the kids/padawans would be using. Allura would be closer to her canon age and Coran would have a bigger part in the story unlike in this AU where he, regrettably, so far rarely appears. It would honestly be closer to the earlier seasons of Voltron Legendary Defender and have a looser tie to the Star Wars movies, giving me more room to play with.

How the story would begin is practically the same, following VLD canon Shiro would crashland and find the others, but from then on there would be drastic changes to the plot and character relationships; i.e. I can have more bonding time between the five of them.

I can post an example chapter or even a chapter to set the stage if you would like to read that first, but please send me your opinion on this matter. I will complete this series if you're already invested in this AU, I already have the next chapter written, but if before I make any decisions I would very much love your opinion on the matter.

PM me or leave your opinion in the comments

Thank you!


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